‘Sip, return, repeat’: US city’s reusable cup initiative a step towards cutting plastic waste

In August, more than 30 chain restaurants and locally owned coffee shops and eateries in Petaluma, California, began providing beverages in reusable cups by default as part of a first-of-its-kind pilot programme meant to reduce pollution from single-use plastic.

Through the Petaluma Reusable Cup Project – a three-month pilot programme sponsored by a food and beverage industry group called the NextGen Consortium – customers were served hot and cold beverages in bright purple reusable plastic cups, unless they asked for disposables or brought their own mugs. After drinking their coffees, teas, or sodas, they were able to return the cups at any of the participating establishments, or at one of 60 return receptacles placed strategically throughout the city.

The reuse logistics provider, Muuse, was in charge of collecting, washing, and redistributing the clean cups back to the coffee shops and restaurants.

Kate Daly, Managing Director of the impact investment firm Closed Loop Partners — which oversees the NextGen Consortium – said the programme has been a major milestone. Existing reusable cup programmes tend to operate in sports stadiums, concert halls, and other confined spaces where it’s easier to keep track of inventory. No other citywide programme in the US has made reusable cups the default option across so...

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