Ethnographic Research on Reusable Packaging, 2023-24

This research draws on observation and interview-based data and packaging diaries, gathered between May 2023 and February 2024. The research focused on consumer engagement with reusable packaging systems and was conducted for the BUDDIE-PACK project in Work Package 2. The objective was to provide insight into how consumers interact with existing reusable packaging systems, to help project partners understand more about the drivers of and barriers to its adoption. Specifically, the research aimed to: (i) Explore what qualities of reusable packaging influence consumer acceptance of reuse systems in contexts such as shopping for groceries, household goods, personal care products and convenience foods. (ii) Explore how reusable packaging transforms shopping practices and associated activities such as planning, transporting, eating, cooking, and cleaning, and the barriers to and enablers of mainstreaming reuse. (iii) Investigate the visibility and useability of reusable packaging systems in mainstream retail and hospitality environments. The dataset contains: (i) interview transcripts from packaging interviews, accompanied shops, unboxing and online shopping tasks with a sample of 15 UK consumers; (ii) packaging diaries from the same 15 consumers, including text, packaging photos, videos and audio files; (ii) observational field notes and a focus group transcript from ethnographic research on supermarket and takeaway reuse schemes.

BUDDIE-PACK, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, is coordinated by the Industrial Technical Centre for Plastics and Composites (IPC) and brings together 19 partners from 6 different European countries. This circular economy project is aiming at implementing a systemic approach for the large-scale deployment of reusable plastic packaging based on a multidisciplinary approach combining social, technological and economic innovations. Work Package 2 focuses on social and behavioural innovation for reusable plastic packaging, seeking to draw lessons about the drivers and barriers to consumer acceptance. This dataset, from Task 2.1, is based on social research on consumer engagement with existing reusable packaging systems.

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