Upstream’s Reuse Project at the Grand Canyon
Phase One Update & Insights
Last Fall, Upstream kicked off one of the most exciting reuse projects in the country, transforming concessions in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to create the largest reuse system in the US and the first at a national park. This three year project will eliminate 5 million single use items every year across 17 concession sites in the park, from food trucks to snack stands, coffee counters, and more—and it will create a model for open loop reuse in national parks and beyond. We shared our reflections after our first site visit in December; since then, we have held two design sprints, one virtual and one in person, and we are happy to update you on our progress and learnings.
While this project is not federally funded, it is sited at a national park; therefore it has been reviewed and approved to proceed by government officials.
Background
Single-use disposable foodware is creating too much trash at the Grand Canyon South Rim. This trash represents wasted greenhouse gas emissions, and the litter poses a risk to wildlife. Disposables must be continuously purchased and brought into the Grand Canyon, a process susceptible to supply chain changes that local operators can’t control. More trash places more strain on the National Park Service to manage waste.
The scope for this project includes all infrastructure and processes necessary to provide clean reusables to a visitor at a Grand Canyon South Rim concession location at the point of purchase. Upstream is leading the process to map the logistics and equipment needed from when a visitor receives their food in a reusable container until that container is cleaned and back at the concession location. This project includes all hot drinks and fountain beverages, and all prepared food—but not retail foods you might get from a vending machine or convenience store, like candy bars. The overall goal of this project is for reuse to be seamlessly integrated into existing operations for both concessionaires. In other words, this is not a side project for these partners—they are committed to changing their operations to a reuse system.
The Process
Both design sprints were highly facilitated and involved deep engagement from staff at Upstream, our concessions partners Delaware North and Xanterra, and National Park Service staff. The stakeholder analyses and in-person interviews we conducted early on proved to be critical in ensuring the right people were in the room during these sprints.
The virtual sprint involved discussions and decisions about budgeting, reusable foodware ownership, selection criteria for the most-used foodware items, the return bin design criteria (an important conversation in light of the wildlife living in the Park), and placement of the return bins in and around the Park. The second sprint, in person, at the Grand Canyon included discussion and decisions around use of technology, dishwashing, return bin ownership, wash facility operations and ownership, a foodware collection plan, and where sorting will happen. It also included initial visitor education planning, including messaging, education, and incentives.
We discussed many of the unique challenges and opportunities offered by this project in our reflections after the initial site visit. As we’ve proceeded, more complexity has been woven into this unique project, much of it having to do with data collection. We are working with two different concessionaires with different organizational structures and different ways of formatting and storing data resources. We are also gathering data for a reuse system that people aren't accustomed to logging and recording.
With any reuse analyses, it is important to start out by establishing a firm understanding of the original single-use system and its components. Our Data Science Specialist, Madhavi Trikha, dove deep into understanding the baseline system in this singular environment, gathering information about the single-use products that both concessionaires purchase, which of those products are considered to be in-scope (e.g. will be replaced with reusables), and how those single-use items impact the waste management system. These explorations then led to looking at opportunities within the new reuse system—for example, labor transfer from time spent on inventory and ordering single-use to time spent managing the reuse system.
Another challenge we’ve begun to explore more in-depth is how to clearly communicate the reuse system to visitors. Hundreds of thousands of international visitors come to the Grand Canyon each year, so we must prioritize clear, simple, cohesive messaging that is internationally recognizable, and we need to make sure that it's clear what visitors need to do with the reusable container regardless of native language.
The Outcomes
The outputs from the design sprints exceeded our expectations. We now have the basic architecture of a full reuse system designed, having decided where and how reusables will be washed and who will own the infrastructure. We also developed a clearer picture around the needs for visitor education and return stations. Of course, many more details will need to be worked out over the next year.
The facilitation process was key to the success of these sprints, seamlessly smoothing out potential points of tension or resistance and fully involving all stakeholders. Through a participatory design process, and equipped with extensive data, the project team arrived together at confident, informed decisions. Converging Upstream’s expertise in reuse with our private sector partners’ expertise in operations at the Grand Canyon allows us to design a reuse system that works for this particular site.
One pivotal conversation we engaged led to a decision to use RFID tracking for the reusables. Another unique challenge for an open-loop system in the Grand Canyon is, of course, return rates. Visitors often pass through within a day, so they don't have a lot of time and touch points to learn a new system. Part of the beauty of this project is that it is an all-in system: there will be no disposable option, eliminating confusion over sorting waste at the end of a meal. Tracking, however, will be critical.
RFID can be used as a tracking tool to know where each reusable is located within the system at any given moment—e.g., how many are in the restaurants, how many are in a return station, how many are back at the wash facility, etc. This is also important because the two concessionaires need to be able to know who is using more foodware—and more so, where foodware is being lost. If foodware is being checked out of a certain site and not returned, tracking will tell us and allow us to troubleshoot bin location and communications around that site. We are still working through how to design a system that is easy to maintain and easy to use for employees, especially given high seasonal turnover rates.
What’s Next
From now until implementation in June 2026, we will be determining selection criteria for the remaining reusables; creating a detailed plan for sorting and redistributing clean reusables; determining labor allocation for washing, collection, and redistribution needs; drafting and issuing RFPs for procurement; testing messaging and visitor education; and planning for phase-in. We look forward to keeping you up to date as we proceed.
