Across the US and Canada (and of course elsewhere as well) we are seeing increased uptake of reusables for both onsite and offsite dining because they just make more sense — reusables are better for the planet, provide a better experience for customers, and save businesses money.

In 2019, there were roughly a dozen reuse startups – largely companies providing reusable foodservice ware and reuse services such as pickup, washing, and redistribution. Now, there are over 200 — that’s 1500% growth in 4 years! And the majority are in foodservice in some capacity. In short: there is immense momentum in the adoption of reusable packaging for foodservice, and we expect to continue seeing more growth in this sector in the coming years.

Accelerating reuse through partnerships

Here at Upstream, we are accelerating the large-scale uptake of reuse in key sectors, including foodservice, by working hand in hand with big-name brands or institutions that have the scale and buying power to influence their whole sector. For example, a $30B foodservice corporation wants to fully and successfully transition one or more of its venues to reusable serviceware and packaging. We are providing partners like this with resources, expertise, and tools like Chart-Reuse to help them successfully transition to reuse. Documenting, highlighting, and showcasing successes at model sites will influence additional uptake in reuse within their companies and across their sectors, so the cycle can continue.

Accelerating reuse through policy

There’s also tremendous policy momentum for reuse, especially in the foodservice sector, which will help secure a reuse-centric future. As of today, 95 reuse policies have been enacted in the US and Canada, with most of these focused on foodservice at the local level with more coming on line every day. 

And we see continued enthusiasm and momentum for enabling reuse at the community level, with over 22 local coalitions and groups working to establish city-scale reuse systems across the country — most focused on foodservice. Some of these groups are working to pass local policies to require reusables for on-site and/or takeout dining, while others are focused on building infrastructure and voluntary adoption. All of this activity is creating the markets that reuse service providers need in order to continue expanding and scaling. 

With growth come challenges & opportunities

Uptake of reuse is not merely a swap-out of packaging but represents a significant systemic change for companies — economically, operationally, and beyond. This is especially true at the level of major corporations and institutions. Companies need expert guidance through the change management process: validating reuse’s viability, decreasing risk perception, and designing doable, phased plans that incorporate reuse service contracts, standards, and best practices. The learnings and success stories from projects with our partners are intended to serve as a model for the expansion of reuse among their own locations across the country, as well as across entire sectors.

One of the biggest pain points is ensuring sufficient return rates. In a reusable takeout system, you need enough containers returned — typically over 90% — to ensure the system is actually benefiting the environment and is economically viable. That means the system has to be designed for consumers to easily and conveniently return their containers. And the containers that get returned need to be in reusable condition.

Some other challenges are the initial cost to invest in a switch to reusables — although it can’t be stressed enough that reusables will save businesses money in just a few short years, or less. At the scale of an individual restaurant, we’ve seen that the savings can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the very first year.

The types of materials chosen for reusable containers can also be a pain point. There are many considerations here — including ensuring the containers are user-friendly, non-toxic, suitable for the specific food they’re holding, and able to be easily sanitized.

From a service provider perspective, another pain point can be simply drumming up enough clients — i.e. restaurants willing to take the leap into providing their food in reusables, even if the logistics are outsourced to a third party. This is where local policy can be especially helpful by requiring participation.

Models of success

It’s fascinating to see the variation that has emerged across business models in foodservice alone, and how these continue to evolve. There are some programs taking advantage of municipal recycling infrastructure to collect used containers, from curbside collection in Durham, NC (thanks to Upstream’s newest CEO, Crystal Dreisbach) to integrating with the deposit-return system in Calgary, Alberta. Others provide comprehensive solutions on their own, like Re:Dish in NYC — winner of The Reusies® 2023 award for Most Innovative Food & Beverage Reuse Company.

Many companies that started out focused only on providing reusable serviceware have since expanded or evolved, often integrating tech for tracking or the latest efficient washing technology, or pivoting entirely to focus on logistics. It’s still very much a startup environment, so they have had to be nimble and adaptable. It also helps to have a supportive policy environment, or even just a generally supportive municipal government to reduce barriers to growth.

As the sector continues to grow, we’re going to start seeing a need for these companies to speak with a united voice in policy discussions as well as to coalesce around shared standards and SOPs — such as the reuse standards that PR3 is developing. We also expect the reuse service industry will grow stronger and begin advancing its own interests via a unified network or industry association, and that is something that we at Upstream want to work toward. So stay tuned for more news on that front!