The new reuse economy
Reuse systems led by innovators are showing the way forward
The number of innovative new companies jumping into the zero waste/reuse/circular economy sector is growing exponentially.
An incredible array of innovations is making it easier than ever for cafes, restaurants, professional offices, temporary venues and events, and college campuses to bring reusables into food and beverage services. Upstream’s online list of reuse service providers tracks these innovators. We list the types of innovations below.
1. Lending libraries
Companies that offer the “Lending Library” system provide an option that is free to the customer. No deposit is required. The retailer cafe or restaurant offers a cup provided by a third party service to customers, who borrow the cup and return it to a participating business. The costs are covered by the retail operator.
In this model, the customer must download an app and provide credit card information. If the cup isn’t returned within a specified period, the customer is charged for the cup.
2. Deposit systems
An alternative is the deposit system, in which the customer pays an upfront deposit that is refunded when the cup is returned. This option is offered by a number of companies like AgainAgain in New Zealand, ReCircle in several Swiss cities, and RECUP in cities all over Germany.
4. Discounts
Still other businesses offer a discount to customers who use a reusable. For many years, Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Pete’s have all offered a 10 cent discount to their customers who bring their own reusable cups, but most customers remain unaware of the incentive. Without promotion and customer education, these companies have never achieved much engagement. Only about two percent of Starbucks’ beverages are sold to customers in reusables.
5. Cafes that no longer serve customers in disposables (even for take-out)
Perhaps the most exciting stories are coming from chains that decided they will no longer provide disposables to their customers.
The Boston Tea Party coffee chain in London no longer offers a disposable cup in their 22 cafes. Customers must borrow one from the cafe or bring their own reusable. In December 2019, Blue Bottle coffee company announced it was going to test this model at two of its San Francisco cafes. The Waitrose grocery store chain in London stopped providing disposable cups to customers for coffee service at all 180 of their in-store cafes. Instead, customers have to bring their own, borrow one, or sit down and drink from a real cup. Perch Cafe in Berkeley, CA follows this model as well.
6. Reusable take-out container services
New companies are also tackling the take-out food dilemma. Most are providing a similar polypropylene clamshell, like Durham Green-to-Go, Sparkle SF, and GoBox , which all rely on customer subscriptions.
EcoBox in Luxembourg Germany uses a plastic container with stainless steel cutlery to go. The service is free to the customer, while the business provides the box. Dishcraft - a robotic dishwashing service - is currently expanding to provide a similar service with pilots in the San Francisco Bay Area. Similarly, Tiffin and Dispatch Goods use stainless steel containers, and their services are offered by the business free to the customer. Just Salad offers a reusable bowl for $1 and incentive of a free topping every time a customer reuses the bowl.
7. Reuse at events and venues
It’s getting easier to hold true zero waste events with all the companies that provide reusable cups and wash them. One popular model involves the customer paying a deposit on a venue cup and getting the option to keep the cup as a souvenir or return it on-site. This service is provided by Enviro-cups and Green Goblet in the UK; Globelet in New Zealand, Australia, and the US; and r.Cup in the UK and the U.S.
8. Meal and grocery delivery
A number of meal delivery services have moved to providing meals in tiffins. Dabba Drop in the UK, Dabbawala in Mumbai, and Planted Table and Green Tiffin in San Francisco are examples of this service.
Deliverround is partnering with the meal delivery app Deliveroo to offer reusable containers through app-based meal ordering. Meanwhile The Wally Shop in the UK and Loop in parts of the U.S., U.K., and coming to Canada, Germany and Japan, deliver groceries in reusable containers.
9. Vending and bulk services
My Fresh Bowl offers the world’s first throw-away free vending machine. Fresh bowls are served in reusable glass jars at WeWorks in NYC with a $2 deposit.
There are also reverse vending machines for the distribution and return of reusable containers. These include the Tomra system for bottles and the OZZI system, popular on college campuses, for collecting cups and containers.
In the category of bulk dispensing, BeUnpackaged offers refill systems to retail stores. This system covers all the steps in the process – tare, fill, weigh, label, and pay steps. Goods Holding Company offers a simple reusable glass and metal jar system for bulk bin shopping. With the tare weight printed right on the jar, customers can take their filled jar up to the cashier without pre-weighing. Miwa offers a smart system for bulk shopping – a circular system of reusable capsules that fit the logistics and hygienic standards of supermarket chains.
For beverage dispensing, DrinkFill is a system that fills up to six different beverages. Bevi is a customized beverage dispenser system for offices that offers sparkling, pure, and flavored water.
Resource Library: the new reuse economy
Infrastructure to Scale the New Reuse Economy
Living Directory of Reuse Businesses
Reuse: Rethinking Packaging
r.Cup Implementation Case Study
Roadmap to Reusables Design Sprint
Case Study
The Story of RePack
Upstream Innovations: A Guide to Packaging Solutions
The Story of reCircle
Reusables Are Doable
Packaging Free Shops in Europe:
An Initial Report
The Reuse Systems Ladder
Case Story: Just Salad’s Reusable Return System
Case Story: Serve it Safe
Design Principles for Materials Used in Reusable Packaging and Foodware
Podcasts
Episode 155: The town of Banff was among the first in Canada to pass a comprehensive single-use item reduction bylaw. Hear from Environmental Coordinator Carla Bitz about the grassroots efforts that spurred the journey to passing this policy, plus successes and challenges along the way.