It was developed by the PR3 coalition (Global Alliance to Advance Reuse), supported by companies including Nestlé, Unilever, Mars, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and others. Out of 236 designs submitted to the “Rebrand Reuse” competition, one was chosen from the Colombian agency Epigrama Studios. The symbol is an arrow twisted into a loop.
The main goal is to visually distinguish packaging that can be reused multiple times from ordinary single-use packaging. The symbol is planned to appear not only on packaging but also on equipment for collection, washing, sorting, and transportation.
Currently, the main problem is that systems for returning and washing cups, containers, and bottles operate in a fragmented way. Scaling them is difficult, and consumers often simply don’t know where to take used packaging if it’s not the same store where they got it.
The new symbol can be used by companies that pass certification according to PR3 standards. The organizers say it has already begun to be used in Hong Kong (Starbucks’ Muuse program) and the UK (the Re-Universe and MasterCard project).
For now, it is only a label, not a ready-made infrastructure. But without a common visual anchor, it would be even harder for dozens of different return systems to coordinate. The new symbol is exactly such an attempt at an agreement. Whether it will become a global standard remains to be seen.
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