The Tampa, Fla.-based Reusable Packaging Association (RPA)’s “2020 State of the Reusable Packaging Industry Report states that in 2020, the global packaging market reached an estimated $950 billion in value. Approximately $200 billion of this is considered “transport” or “transit” packaging, of which roughly half meet the RPA’s criteria for “reusable” packaging. Together, these products comprise the $100 billion returnable transport packaging (RTP) market.

Tim Debus, president and chief executive officer of the Reusable Packaging Association, notes that production and sale of single-use beverage bottles is increasing worldwide, but the post-use recovery of these bottles for recycling is not keeping up. Around the world, more than 1 million plastic bottles are bought every minute, and fewer than half are collected for recycling. In the United States, the total plastic bottle recycling rate is 29 percent, he adds.