Central Ohio Reuse Coalition’s Reuse Pilot at Coffee Shops
A Local Reuse Initiative Highlight
Over the last few years—with increased awareness of the issues with single-use plastic, litter, the fraught recycling industry, and the financial and environmental costs of procurement and waste management—reuse concepts have been making notable gains.
Since Upstream’s Reuse Solutions Network began in 2019, it has grown in membership from a couple dozen to 1300+ advocates, government representatives, NGOs, and reuse entrepreneurs, with new sign ups every week. We have also identified over 35 local reuse groups and coalitions working across the US & Canada. As of now, we’ve tracked 114 total reuse laws in the US & Canada, covering 23% of the total population. Many of these reuse policies—not to mention non-policy work—can be attributed to the work of local coalitions representing dozens of grassroots organizations, who have the insight and relationships needed to make change on-the-ground.
In light of all this activity, this summer we are spotlighting some local reuse initiatives in order to share insights and learnings other community groups can leverage for their own success. Featured here: Central Ohio Reuse Coalition’s Reuse Pilot at Coffee Shops.
What is the Central Ohio Reuse Coalition?
The Central Ohio Reuse Coalition (CORC) is made up of nonprofits, local sustainability groups, green businesses, faith-based organizations and committed individuals who live and work in Central Ohio. They are a chapter of the Austin-based Plastic Reduction Project.
The Coffee Cup Reuse Program
Columbus, OH is a blue city in a red state, which has preemption laws preventing local municipalities from regulating single-use packaging. CORC wanted to make an impact and saw coffee shops as an approachable starting point.
The goals of the project were to establish a “reuse beach-head” in Central Ohio and to start a conversation about reuse with businesses, elected officials, and consumers. CORC also thought a pilot would be a good way to collect data and assess the challenges of implementing reuse systems.
Starting in early 2024, CORC researched reusable cup providers and settled on Okapi, an app-based service that rents cups to cafes, who are then responsible for washing them. Funding was key to launching the pilot, since they wanted to ensure coffee shop participation by making it cost-neutral. They applied for and received a combination of municipal, community, and private grants, which allowed them to slowly expand their network of participating coffee shops throughout the year. With the seed funding, the first coffee shop joined in January 2025, and as of July, 2025, the greater Columbus area has 10 participating coffee shops.
The project was slow to take off, as both coffee shops and consumers adapted to a novel system, but uptake has been significant as time has gone on. CORC found that increased usage at certain sites was more indicative of a core base of dedicated customers returning multiple times per week and that attracting more new customers to a program requires persistent messaging and marketing. But a pre-launch survey certainly indicated that customers are interested in a better system: 95.6% of respondents said they wanted to reduce single-use plastic; 93% of respondents indicated that they want businesses to reduce waste; and 87% of respondents thought a $10 program fee was a reasonable price.
Challenges
With all that interest, why hasn’t there been more participation? CORC found that explaining the borrow/return concept via an app is baffling for some, compelling to others—but regardless, it is a new interface for anyone looking for a quick cup of coffee. Also, it can be difficult to engage baristas who are already juggling several tasks on a busy shift. They may not have internalized the need for sustainability or think it’s their job to sell the program, and they often fail to ask customers whether they know about the program. CORC also found that attitudes and action vary widely from shop to shop: some owners and baristas are fully on board and self-motivated, while others need more support and encouragement from CORC in order to attract interest from the customer base.
Tabling is a moderately successful way to educate consumers, but it can be difficult to attract their attention when they are intent on getting their coffee, especially at rush hour. CORC found that tabling works better as a reminder to customers already familiar with the program than as an introduction to it. Within their limited capacity as a volunteer group, they continue to seek innovative ways to spread awareness and enthusiasm for the program.
Next steps: How to increase adoption rates?
CORC is looking to online coffee influencers and digital marketing strategies to help increase engagement. They are also refining their tabling and messaging strategy: rather than focusing on the reusable cup program generally, they are catering their message to the loyal customers of each specific coffee shop, each of which has a particular character and visitor demographic. Some of these cafes, for instance, participate in community waste reduction programs. In other instances, customers are keenly aware of the health issues with single-use plastics. CORC is also testing and analyzing various participation incentive strategies to see what works best in the Columbus market. Finally, they are working one-on-one with owners and loyal customers to better understand the challenges and opportunities inherent in this program in hopes of continuing to build momentum into the future and normalize reuse practices in the Columbus region.
