Reuse in Food Service

Ready to make the switch from single-use to reuse?

We can help.

Our friends at ReThink Disposable have worked with dozens of food service operators in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles — helping them shift from single-use to reusable food serviceware, or simply reduce unnecessary packaging. To date, 100% of the businesses and institutional dining programs have saved money. This is true after accounting for the costs of new products, labor, and increased dishwashing.

Cost savings for small businesses fall between $3,000-$22,000. While initial investments are needed to purchase reusable products, cost savings are usually realized within a few months and always within a year.

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Going reusable can save you money

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Additional dishwashing or associated labor costs are minimal or non-existent.

Food business operators’ primary concerns regarding reusables include the cost of added dishwashing and associated labor. But all restaurants that serve food and/or beverages prepared on-site have some type of installed dishwashing and may not be using their dishwashers to full capacity. 

In the vast majority of cases, businesses that have worked with ReThink Disposable are fast-casual and institutional dining services, most of which use a mix of disposables and reusables. Nearly all restaurants have been able to transition to reusables for on-site dining without changing their dishwashing set up or increasing labor costs.  



ReThink Disposable case studies show how restaurants and institutions made the switch to reusables with existing dishwashing capacity, with just a few installing dishwashers:

Businesses using the three-sink system

Businesses with dishwashers

Businesses renting and installing a dishwasher

Switching to reusables with a three-sink system

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  • Rene Rose Island Cuisine, Sunnyvale, CA. They replaced disposable plates, bowls, baskets, and cups with reusables. Their labor savings include less trash to manage and less time shopping for disposables. Altogether, Rene Rose saved $22,122 per year after the two month payback period and reduced disposable items by a count of 151,607, achieving a 2,130 pound waste reduction per year.

  • New York Pizza, Palo, Alto, CA.  The changes implemented included serving pizza directly on metal pizza trays, side dishes served in reusable baskets, and reusable silverware and durable cups. Washing is conducted using the existing three-sink system, yet the business reported no additional labor costs nor any challenges keeping up with dishwashing needs. This business is saving $3,043 per year, and the owner purchased all the reusable food serviceware needed to implement the program for only $170.

  • Lola’s Chicken Shack, Alameda, CA. Owners wanted to eliminate the 52,430 disposable water cups used annually, but were concerned about how switching to reusables would slow down service. Once the cups were purchased, washing them required only three additional loads and five extra gallons of water per day. The payback period (including the cost of dishwashing) for the cups was 15 days. They save time and money by no longer having to order thousands of disposable plastic cups, and less staff time is spent managing overflowing garbage cans. The restaurant achieved a $3,205 cost savings and avoided using 65,022 disposable items per year.

  • University of San Francisco Cafeteria, San Francisco, CA. This campus eatery completes 5,000 transactions per day, with the bulk of service during the busy lunch hour. The changes involved replacing disposables with reusables for cups at water stations, salad bowls with lids, and cutlery. The results included an annual reduction of 2,607,519 disposable food service ware items and 26,962 pounds of waste, at an annual savings of $157,883. The catering company, Bon Appetit Management Co., reported no additional labor was required.

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Switching to reusables with existing dishwasher capacity

Switching to reusables by either renting or installing more dishwasher capacity

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  • Honolulu BBQ, Alameda, CA. This business made a full transition to reusables for on-site dining when it eliminated 14 types of disposable food serviceware. As a result, the restaurant annually avoids using 109,408 disposable food serviceware, eliminates 21,984 pounds of waste, and saves over $3,000 per year. The owners reported that the changes had no impact on labor costs. While the restaurant accomplished these savings using their three-sink hand washing system, the owner eventually used a dishwasher rental service costing $1,962 per year, which cut the annual costs savings from over $3,000 to $1,272.

You can solve for any concerns about product loss

We know you may be concerned about losing reusable utensils and even food containers and cups to customers inadvertently tossing them into the recycling or trash bin. One strategy is to have less sorting from the customer. In some cases, product loss was avoided by moving the trash and recycle bins away from the dining area to the “back of the house” and installing customer self-bussing bins in the dining area. Customers place everything in the bus bin – the plates, cups, and utensils, along with food waste and trash. The staff sort everything and can increase collection of food waste for compost, collect recyclables, and solve the product loss problem. Another effective option is to leave compost bins for customers to discard their food waste before placing their used dishes in the bus bin. In this case, clear signage that the bin is only for food waste is essential in the avoidance of product loss.

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