On December 14, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 30 as International Zero Waste Day, an initiative led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat. This initiative aims to address the global waste crisis, recognizing that households, businesses, and public service providers generate between 2.1 and 2.3 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually, while 2.7 billion people lack proper waste collection systems (UN, 2025).
Achieving zero waste requires circularity strategies, a key approach to reducing waste generation and optimizing resource use. Packaging waste accounts for a significant share of total waste, making circular packaging solutions essential. In 2021, the European Union generated an estimated 84.3 million tons of packaging waste, a 6% increase (4.8 million tons) from 2020. Between 2010 and 2021, paper and cardboard contributed the most to this waste (40.3% of the total), followed by plastic packaging, which accounted for 19% (Eurostat, 2023).
A study by the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change (Sazdovski et al., 2024) compared two packaging systems for fresh produce in Spain: Reusable Transport Packaging (RTPs) and single-use cardboard boxes. Using Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Circularity Indicators for Materials (ICM) and Products (ICP), the study found that reusable packaging is significantly more circular than cardboard boxes. The difference is even more pronounced when using ICP, as it covers more life cycle stages and better accounts for non-recoverable waste.
Promoting circular models is essential for advancing towards zero waste and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11 and 12, which focus on reducing resource waste and improving waste management (UN, 2025).
Additionally, according to a study by the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change (Bala & Fullana, 2017), the end-of-life impact of RTPs represents less than 5% of their total environmental footprint, whereas for cardboard boxes, this impact is significantly higher—up to 61% in terms of climate change effects.
Moreover, research by IFCO highlights that RTPs play a key role in extending product shelf life by efficiently removing heat from the field during pre-cooling. This extends product freshness by up to four days compared to single-use cardboard boxes (Lippert QM, 2018), significantly reducing food waste.
In light of this evidence, the use of reusable transport packaging for fruits and vegetables emerges as a key strategy for moving towards a zero waste future.
References
BALA, A., and FULLANA, P., 2017, Análisis comparado de diferentes opcines de distribución de frutas y verduras en españa basado en el ACV, Cátedra UNESCO de Ciclo de Vida y Cambio Climático,ESCI-UPF, Available: https://areco.org.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Memoria_final_Estudio_ACV_ARECO.pdf
Eurostat, 2023, Packaging waste statistics, Available: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/index.php?title=Packaging_waste_statistics#Waste_generation_by_packaging_material
Lippert QM, Comparison of the ventilation of different IFCO RPCs and its effect on freshness and saleability of different fruits and vegetables. Presented by Dr. Felix Lippert. https://www.ifco.com/study-ifco-rpcs-extend-shelf-life-of-fresh-produce-by-up-to-4-days/
Sazdovski, Ilija, Batlle-Bayer, Laura, Bala, Alba, Margallo, María, Azarkamand, Sahar, Aldaco, Rubén and Fullana-i-Palmer, Pere, 2024. Circularity Entanglement: Selecting Appropriate Circularity Indicator, Study of Secondary Packaging for Fresh Food Distribution in Spain. Heliyon, volumen y páginas. Disponible en SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4646483 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4646483
United Nations (UN). 2025. Día Internacional de Cero Desechos 30 de marzo. https://www.un.org/es/observances/zero-waste-day#:~:text=El%2014%20de%20diciembre%20de,se%20celebrar%C3%A1%20todos%20los%20a%C3%B1os.
By Sahar Azarkamand, researcher of the ARECO Fellowship of the UNESCO Chair of Life Cycle of ESCI-UPF.
