The tiny blue logo on countless Vancouver food delivery bags is becoming something of a quiet revolution in how the city handles takeout waste. Four years after launching, Reusables.com has diverted more than 1.5 million single-use containers from landfills – a milestone that speaks to both consumer appetite for sustainable alternatives and the economic case for ditching disposables.
When Jason Hawkins, CEO and co-founder of Reusables, first pitched the idea of a container-sharing program for restaurants, the skeptics weren’t hard to find. “People thought we were idealistic dreamers,” Hawkins told me during a recent interview at the company’s modest East Vancouver headquarters. “The conventional wisdom was that consumers wouldn’t return containers and restaurants wouldn’t pay for the service.”
But conventional wisdom, it turns out, was wrong. The company now serves over 200 food businesses across Vancouver, with expansions underway in Victoria and Toronto. Their model is refreshingly straightforward: restaurants pay a monthly subscription fee, plus a small per-use charge, to access a pool of standardized, durable containers that get collected, sanitized, and redistributed.
The economics make surprising sense. With single-use containers costing restaurants between 25-40 cents each – sometimes more for premium packaging – the Reusables alternative often delivers savings within the first year. “It’s not just about being green,” says Hawkins. “It’s about good business.”
The timing couldn’t be more critical. British Columbia’s ban on many single-use plastics took effect last December, with federal regulations following this year. According to Statistics Canada, Canadians generate roughly 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, with food packaging representing a significant portion. About 9% gets recycled.
For Emily Chen, owner of Bowl Good, a plant-based eatery in Kitsilano, the transition to reusables was initially daunting. “We worried about customer adoption and operational headaches,” she admits. “But our customers actually prefer it now. It’s become part of our identity.”
The customer experience is straightforward. Food arrives in the branded containers, and patrons return them to any participating location or drop-off point. Using the Reusables app, customers scan a QR code, deposit their container, and move on with their day. A small network of electric cargo bikes collects and redistributes clean containers daily.
The company’s industrial cleaning facility in Richmond processes thousands of containers daily to hospital-grade sanitation standards – addressing consumer concerns about cleanliness that initially threatened adoption. Third-party testing confirms their sanitization process exceeds health authority requirements.
Vancouver’s coastal location has made residents particularly aware of plastic pollution. Marine biologist Dr. Sarah Matheson from the Pacific Ocean Research Institute points to the direct connection between urban waste and coastal ecosystems. “What we’re seeing in False Creek and the Strait of Georgia is alarming – microplastics are now ubiquitous in the food chain,” she explains. “Systems like Reusables directly prevent this source pollution.”
The startup’s rise hasn’t been without challenges. Early versions of their app crashed frequently, initial container designs leaked, and some restaurant partners balked at collection schedules that disrupted operations. “We’ve essentially rebuilt our entire system three times,” Hawkins acknowledges. “The version you see today reflects thousands of tiny improvements.”
Venture funding has noticed. Last month, Reusables closed a $7 million Series A round led by Renewal Funds, a Vancouver-based impact investor with a track record in sustainable consumer products. “What attracted us was the clear unit economics,” says Sarah Lam, principal at Renewal. “They’ve proven reusables can scale without subsidies.”
The funding follows their $2 million seed round in 2021 and will fuel expansion to ten Canadian cities by end of 2024. According to CB Insights, investment in circular economy startups has grown 80% since 2020, with particular interest in models that eliminate single-use packaging.
Global competitors have also emerged. Finland’s RePack and California’s DeliverZero operate similar models, while corporate giants like McDonald’s and Starbucks have piloted their own reusable programs with mixed results. “The big players are watching this space carefully,” says retail analyst Morgan Campbell. “We’re likely approaching a tipping point where scale makes reusables the obvious choice.”
The growth hasn’t been without friction. Some Vancouver restaurants have complained about the subscription costs, while others cite limited container formats as a constraint on menu design. And despite the company’s green mission, questions remain about the full lifecycle impact of their durable polypropylene containers, which require more energy to produce initially than single-use alternatives.
Hawkins acknowledges these tensions. “We’re constantly calculating our break-even point for environmental impact. Our containers need to complete 10-15 cycles to outperform disposables on carbon footprint, and we’re averaging 38 cycles now.”
City officials have embraced the concept. Vancouver’s Zero Waste 2040 strategy specifically identifies reusable container systems as critical infrastructure. “What’s promising about Reusables isn’t just the waste reduction,” says Katherine Morris, senior waste reduction planner for the City of Vancouver. “It’s that they’ve created a viable business model that doesn’t rely on permanent subsidies.”
The company’s next challenge is behavioral. Despite high return rates in dense urban areas like Downtown and Commercial Drive, suburban locations see more containers languishing in homes and offices. To combat this, Reusables has begun implementing gentle reminder systems and expanded drop-off locations.
As we wrapped up our conversation, a notification dinged on Hawkins’ phone – another 50 containers had just been returned at a downtown location. He smiled, noting the counter on their wall showing containers diverted from landfill ticking upward in real-time.
“Every container matters,” he said, glancing at the number. “But what really matters is proving this model works financially. Sustainability only scales when it makes business sense.”
For a growing number of Vancouver restaurants and their customers, that equation is increasingly adding up.
