The Reuse Jigsaw: Partnering for Successful Systems
Missing a piece in your reuse puzzle? Collaboration completes the picture.
No doubt about it: switching from single-use to reusable packaging can be a daunting proposition.
Stakeholders considering the idea generally think along the lines of, “We’d have to figure out washing. And logistics. And consumer behavior. And compliance. And the container itself. And none of that is our job.” They’re right that doing all of that alone would be overwhelming, expensive, and well outside most institutions’ mission or scope.
But the organizations making reuse work have figured out something important: reuse is not a matter of vertical integration. It’s a matter of partnerships.
The infrastructure, expertise, and operational capacity to build a reuse system already exist — in sanitation companies, logistics providers, venue operators, tech platforms, and even simply neighbors and friends. The skill isn’t in building everything. It’s knowing how to find, approach, and structure the right relationships so that each partner contributes what they’re already good at.
From community systems to large venues, open- to close-loop scenarios, foodservice to CPG — examples of partnerships that filled in the missing pieces to unlock successful reuse systems abound.
What’s Missing: Dedicated Wash Facilities
A reuse system simply cannot operate without a hub for washing, sanitizing, and drying reusable containers. And building one from scratch is a big investment.
But what if there’s already a wash facility in the area — and it’s just a matter of connecting with the right people in order to leverage it?
Across many different scenarios, reuse projects and businesses have forged partnerships in order to access underutilized washing infrastructure, or have created new pathways for pre-existing washing services.
Shared Wash Facilities
One of the most essential services a reuse service provider offers is container washing — and even they are known to plug into pre-existing local wash facilities when they are just getting started. GreenToGo in Durham, NC, for instance, leveraged local connections to set up washing for their takeout containers at an under-utilized kitchen in a community center. And another recent startup service for reusable takeout is using the facilities at a local church.
Mobile Solutions
It would seem that if there are no wash services in the area where a stakeholder wants to offer reuse, that would be the end of the conversation. Think again! The event partners coordinating the official Fan Fest for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Miami were committed to recirculating the cocktail cups offered by beverage sponsor Diageo. The problem? There are no dedicated wash facilities in the Miami area. So reuse service provider r.World rented portable units just for the event and provided all coordination and logistics as if the wash facility had been their own.
Indeed, mobile wash units for events is an option some reuse service providers, like Perennial Zero Waste, offer as a normal part of their operations. Even once wash hubs are installed in every major metro area and interoperable reuse systems are the norm, some events will fall out of a range that makes hauling dishes practicable. Mobile dishwashing services are likely here to stay as an integral part of the reuse economy.
Citywide Systems
While the vision is for dedicated wash and logistics facilities that anchor a reuse system in a community, cities like Ottawa in Ontario, Canada aren’t waiting. Reuse Ottawa launched a citywide reuse pilot in 2024 that is now ramping up into a permanent project.
There were plenty of logistics and cost considerations in order to get up and running, without throwing the buildout of a dedicated wash facility into the mix. Instead, Reuse Ottawa partnered with Gate Gourmet, an international aviation catering group that had extra capacity at their sanitization facility located in the city.
The partnership not only served Reuse Ottawa’s needs but opened Gate Gourmet to new possibilities. According to Shannon Lavalley of Reuse Ottawa, Gate Gourmet now “[sees] reuse opportunities as a new business line. They are at literally every airport across North America. So it's a way to use their capital equipment where otherwise it would be dormant.”
Consumer Packaged Goods
Catering companies may be equipped to wash reusable foodware — but what about CPG packaging?
The Loop platform, created by TerraCycle, was an early innovator in the reuse in retail space, setting up online and in-store pilots for national grocery chains like Tesco in the UK. EcoLab, a global company that supplies commercial and industrial hygiene and sanitization solutions, partnered with Loop to clean the reusable containers. As a Consumer Goods Forum member, EcoLab had committed to reducing global plastic waste, so they were motivated to pitch in. And they had the capacity and operational expertise to establish a system that worked for reusable retail packaging, while Loop kept busy managing the logistics of the larger system.
What’s Missing: Collection Systems
Loop took learnings from their pilots and ultimately plugged them into a successful interoperable retail system in France, guided by their model EPR for packaging law (more on that later). Regulation also spurred the citywide reuse system in Lisbon, Portugal. Indeed, it’s often mandates that catalyze reuse systems. But even once those are in place, partnerships are all the more essential to ensuring compliance.
In 2025, Lisbon made history as the first European capital to roll out a citywide reusable cup system. About 25,000 cups are used across Lisbon’s entertainment areas each night. And while prior to implementation, some cups had been labeled and sold as “reusable” in the area, no system was actually in place to collect, clean, and recirculate the cups.
Reuse service provider TOMRA forged a crucial partnership with the Portuguese Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Establishments (AHRESP), which got the local bars and restaurants on board with the project. What would have been an intimidating regulation to comply with on their own became far more seamless when all of the businesses knew they were in it together, and when an operator with reuse expertise was present to oversee the system.
What’s Missing: Tracking
The success of a reuse system depends almost entirely on return rates. And while ensuring high return rates relies on many factors, tracking reusable containers through their circular journey is a critical first step. The data gathered tell an important story. They reveal where “leaks” in the system are leading to higher losses and thus, where and what changes could facilitate higher returns.
Tracking is particularly important in open-loop and semi open-loop systems like the one Upstream is orchestrating in Grand Canyon National Park. With its remote location and other unique design specifications, this project was not conducive to bringing in a single reuse operator to run all aspects of the system. Instead, we’ve been building a custom system piece by piece — including ordering reusable foodware from one provider, and charging another provider with embedding tracking technology into the foodware and corresponding touchpoints.
Avery Dennison is not a name commonly associated with reuse systems, but they are a global materials science and digital identification solutions company — which is exactly what we needed for this component of the project. They are setting up a RFID tracking system that will not only provide insight into loss rates but will also provide invaluable impact and usage data that will allow us to continually optimize the reuse system.
What’s Missing: Labor
Ensuring a high return rate can often mean sorting through all the non-reuse bins found next to the return station — the trash, recycling, and compost — to rescue waylaid reusable containers. And it’s worth doing so: sorting reusables out of single-use streams can increase collection rates by over 10%.
If event staff already have their hands full collecting tickets, serving drinks, controlling crowds, and doing all the other tasks that make a concert or festival flow smoothly — enter waste management teams. Reuse service providers themselves, or groups like Clean Vibes or Perennial Zero Waste, dedicate teams specifically to sorting reusable containers out of other waste streams — in the interest of making an event as low-waste as possible. Sometimes volunteer groups dedicated to ensuring reuse thrives in their community will take on the task. And at the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver, a waste pickers group called the Binners’ Project was employed to help ensure a high return rate.
Even once reuse becomes as normal and natural as recycling (or hopefully, more so!), distracted event goers will inevitably misdirect some reusable containers at the end of the night. Whichever way you go about it, teaming up with a group of people to keep the circular path flowing provides extra insurance for a strong reuse system.
What’s Missing: Confidence & Know-How
As public awareness of and concern over plastic pollution and packaging litter increases — and as packaging regulation takes hold — more and more large brands and corporations are committing to changing their single-use ways. They have the budget, the operational expertise in their sector, robust marketing departments, buy-in not only from sustainability departments but top-level C-suites, and much more going for them to ensure success. What they don’t often have is knowledge about reuse or the confidence to lead the way to scaled interoperable systems.
While partnerships in all the flavors already listed will help get them on their way, when facing a massive supply chain shift, a trusted partnership with a change-management expert can prove the most essential piece.
Leveraging Existing Relationships
Following their retail pilots, TerraCycle’s reuse platform Loop reached industrial scale in collaboration with the French grocery chain Carrefour and a coalition of brands and retailers, with more than 370 products available across 345 supermarkets nationwide. How did they get there? Ali Golden of Loop explained: Loop benefitted from the established presence of TerraCycle, which had already worked for years with Carrefour on their recycling program. They were able to leverage existing relationships to introduce the reuse concept.
“It's easy,” Golden said, “to sell reuse in theory because it's really exciting and it's cool, and luckily we had really good partners and champions within Carrefour who saw the opportunity and also saw the the leadership role that they could play and the competitive advantage that they could gain. And then they also knew of course that [France’s packaging reduction] laws were coming, so I think that was extra impetus for them.”
Making New Friends
Meanwhile, the relationship Upstream forged with Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim two corporate concessioners happened the other way around — regulatory pressure provided the nudge, but the trusting partnership we created and champions who’ve emerged have kept the project rolling.
The Grand Canyon Reuse Project began with seed funding awarded by the National Park Foundation in response to the Biden administration’s directive to eliminate single-use plastic from all national parks by 2030. While the federal mandate was rolled back, both concessioners have strong commitments to eliminating single-use plastic procurement and other sustainability initiatives that kept them motivated.
Over the course of a multi-month, data-informed design sprint process, Upstream's staff worked shoulder-to-shoulder with both concessioners to develop a system neither could have built alone. By the end of the sprints, the concessionaires didn't just understand the reuse system — they believed in it. And one of them has since decided to carry that belief into every future park contract they pursue.
Reuse Is At Sea, But These Partners Are Not
When you think about it, a cruise ship is an ideal closed-loop location for a reuse system: there’s no (good) place for waste to go, and guests can’t wander too far with their reusable containers. As with all venues, there are also some unique complexities to consider.
As is often the case with corporate partnerships, Bacardi gained faith in reuse systems by partnering with ecoSPIRITS, a packaging technology company, to pilot reusable and refillable packaging for alcoholic spirits on Carnival Cruise Lines. Before expanding, the two companies worked together to customize the system. Bacardi brought to bear their experience on cruise lines to co-develop a system that is corrosion resistant in the salt air and that complies with the heightened hygiene standards for cruise ships. This summer, the partners renewed their contract and expanded operations.
Whether it’s a grocery store chain, a national park, a cruise ship, or any other large, complex venue, the operational expertise of those who run them is as important as the reuse expertise offered by pilot or project partners. Their work together builds the most successful and lasting systems.
More Than A Pretty Picture
Getting creative with partnerships is key to creating a robust reuse economy — especially in current conditions as reuse is ramping up — because those partnerships and collaborations are part of what make this future economy robust. The more stakeholders are bought in from multiple sectors and the more businesses feel they can contribute, the more participatory and engaged the system.
This points to a bigger, more profound fact. Inherently, a reuse economy is a far more connected economy — supported by and enabling more connected communities. The multitude of ways partnerships unlock reuse systems are an illustration of that social and community transformation.
