Reusables Co. was founded in 2020 by Jason Hawkins (left) and Anastasia Kiku (right). It began as a grassroots effort, with the founders delivering stainless steel containers to a handful of restaurants out of the back of their cars. Today it’s a technology-powered reuse program that’s reducing tonnes of waste for food-service operators.HANDOUT
Every year, campuses generate thousands of pounds of single-use packaging waste, mostly from takeout meals, but at the University of Guelph, a new technology-powered reuse program is tackling that impact.
In partnership with Vancouver-based startup Reusables Co., the school has introduced a digital return system for durable containers that has already kept 21 tonnes of disposable waste out of landfills and saved more than 84 tonnes of carbon emissions.
“We’ve been running a green container program since 2011,” says Brooke Gregoire, manager of hospitality services at the University of Guelph. “It had great uptake; students loved it, but we needed a better way to close the loop.”
That loop, as Ms. Gregoire explains, was breaking down when containers weren’t returned.
“People would take them home or pass them along, which is great in theory. But at a certain point, if a container leaves the system, is it still reusable?” she adds. “Or has it effectively become single-use?”
Enter Reusables, a software-based tracking system that replaces the school’s old card-swap model with a QR-code-based platform, showing that smart systems and frictionless tech can nudge people toward more sustainable choices without sacrificing convenience. By integrating QR-code tracking, real-time data and automated return kiosks, Reusables is streamlining operations for institutions and making it easier for individuals to choose reuse over waste.
The program allows students to borrow containers at dining halls or food courts and return them to any of the designated return bins across campus. Users sign up through a simple mobile interface and scan their containers at checkout and return, much like a library book. The lost fee is $7 per container.
Founded in 2020 by Jason Hawkins and Anastasia Kiku, Reusables began as a grassroots effort, with the founders delivering stainless steel containers to a handful of restaurants out of the back of their cars.
The program allows consumers to borrow containers at dining halls or food courts and return them to any of the designated return bins across campus. Users sign up through a simple mobile interface and scan their containers at checkout and return, much like a library book.HANDOUT
“We were doing the cleaning. We owned the containers. We had the app and the system, we were managing the restaurants and the relationships,” Mr. Hawkins recalls. “Then we realized, ‘Wow, this is kind of an emerging industry, but this isn’t going to work. This isn’t going to scale.’ So, we looked at what we’re best at and where we can actually have the biggest impact.”
The answer was technology, specifically QR codes, tracking systems and real-time data. But clients also wanted the hardware to go with it, so the company also provides the dishes and developed its own line of return bins, which Mr. Hawkins jokingly calls “sexy garbage bins.”
“Not many companies can truly change people’s habits,” he says. “At the individual restaurant level, impact still depended on personal choice. But during a year-long pilot at Simon Fraser University in 2022, we saw that in a closed environment – with policies, a captive audience and on-site dishwashing – you can make a much greater impact. Institutions like that are a powerful place to start.”
In 2023, the company’s customer base and revenue increased by roughly tenfold and the momentum hasn’t slowed.
“This year, we’re on track to triple it again,” says Mr. Hawkins, whose company recently raised a $3.6-million seed round from Canadian venture capital funds. Investors include StandUp Ventures, Sandpiper Ventures, Amplify Capital, and Amend Vision Fund.
Mr. Hawkins says the new capital will help the company expand its impact across North America, with a continued focus on universities, hospitals, and other large institutional food-service operators. This summer, Reusables will launch at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the company’s third customer in California.
On the back-end, customers can see their impact on the world but also how many times each container has been recirculated, reaching into the hundreds (one container at the University of Guelph has been reused 219 times so far).
This kind of positive feedback can contribute to positive behavioural changes in consumers, explains Kathryn Brohman, associate professor of digital transformation and strategy execution at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business.
Reusables developed its own line of return bins, which co-founder Jason Hawkins jokingly calls “sexy garbage bins.”HANDOUT
“If it’s very process-based feedback or praise, people will naturally see the positive connection… then they feel that they are making a difference,” Prof. Brohman says. “The real opportunity for technology is that it gives people the awareness of the impact they’re making by taking on a certain action.”
Leah Perry, senior manager of cleantech at MaRS Discovery District, says she has seen firsthand how digital feedback can influence consumer behaviour tied to a specific product and spark broader lifestyle changes.
“If I’m now incentivized to return my container, I feel good about that. I may second-guess going into a fast fashion store the next day,” she explains. “It gets rooted in your identity – and so you want to bring that into other aspects of your life.”
Ms. Perry adds that once one sector proves successful, the model often spreads.
“Returning things is not a new concept,” she says. “I think once you get it within certain industries and people get used to it, then the adoption through other industries will become a lot easier.”
So far, users like the experience, which shows in the uptake. Since implementing the Reusables system, the University of Guelph has seen a jump from around a 60 per cent return rate with the old green container system to a 96 to 98 per cent return rate now.
“As of today, we’re at 420,000 total reuses,” Ms. Gregoire says. “It feels great.”