Reusable delivery packaging pilot log

Keep material and disposal choices on the packaging guide. Count crates issued to one business customer. Measure the single-use pack you are comparing.

What one cohort finishes

Set the reporting cutoff before you count. A unit is returned only when a return date on or before the cutoff is recorded. The starting cycle count at first issue is 0. A completed cycle needs a recorded return of an intact or otherwise suitable unit plus the applicable documented cleaning decision. A wash or return entry alone does not prove the unit was subsequently reused.

A completed exit uses unit_status exited and an exit_kind of retired, planned_sale, planned_transfer or documented_loss. Intentional retirement or sale is not a loss. documented_loss needs a usable evidence reference and date and is not used for unreturned units. The sheet does not print a loss rate or a break-even cycle.

For each issue event, use the latest snapshot whose reporting_cutoff is on or before the date you are reporting. Keep the original cutoff snapshot. A later revision uses its own later as-of cutoff. Do not add revision rows to the cutoff count.

Fill in the pilot log

Download both files. Save a copy of the blank log and type into that copy.

• Blank log, pilot-blank.csv
• Fictional example, pilot-example.csv

The files are plain CSV. You type every cell.

Columns: cohort_id, issue_window_start, issue_window_end, reporting_cutoff, issue_event_id, unit_id, issue_date, return_date, condition_on_return, wash_status, wash_date, wash_basis, cycle_count, unit_status, exit_kind, exit_evidence_ref, exit_evidence_date, snapshot_kind, row_status.

unit_status is in_use, returned, ready_for_reissue, unreturned_at_cutoff, damaged or exited. There is no lost status. condition_on_return is intact_suitable or damaged, or blank while the unit is unreturned. wash_status is washed, wash_not_required or wash_missing. exit_kind is retired, planned_sale, planned_transfer or documented_loss, or blank. snapshot_kind is cutoff_snapshot or revision. row_status is recorded for a complete cutoff snapshot, including a dated unreturned snapshot, or for a complete later as-of revision. Missing required dates or evidence, or contradictory statuses, stay incomplete.

A later return after the original cutoff is a revision with its own later reporting_cutoff. It does not change the original cutoff snapshot or that snapshot’s completed-cycle count.

Issue, return, wash and documented-exit dates must be chronological. A complete cutoff record of uncertainty is valid. A wash or return entry alone does not prove later reuse.

ready_for_reissue needs a returned unit, condition intact_suitable, and washed or wash_not_required. Damaged units cannot become ready merely because they were washed. wash_not_required needs a stated basis.

This is not the transit count

The published returnable-transit count is for containers a supplier issues to one business customer. It stores issued, returned and damaged counts and does not subtract. This log is a consumer delivery trial with a cutoff, wash records and revisions.

Worked example: fictional Millbridge Outfitters mailers

The example is fictional. Cohort M-01 issues mailers on 1 September 2026. The original cutoff is 30 September 2026. The later mailer-2 snapshot uses 5 October 2026 as its as-of cutoff.

Limits

WRAP’s July 2024 reuse guide says it is becoming important to quantify reusable systems against single-use and that washing standards are still needed. This log does not run that comparison. It does not complete an EPR return for hired reusable packaging. It does not set a deposit.

Your next action

Damaged units that become waste use the waste-reduction guide. Measure the single-use pack you are comparing.

Sources

• Mainstreaming reusable and refillable packaging in the UK, WRAP, July 2024.
• Count returnable transit containers for one customer.