The HuskeeSwap reusable coffee-cup system aims to revolutionise recycling by creating a “seamless, closed loop between retailers and consumers”.
Every year, more than 600 billion takeaway coffee cups go to landfill. Unrecyclable, they decompose over hundreds of years or end up in rivers and oceans.
Reusable coffee cups have made a difference, but stubborn problems persist. Dirty cups, faulty cups and cups of different sizes are adding risk, inefficiency and waste of stock.
HuskeeCup is marketed as a reusable coffee cup with a “sophisticated and zero-waste design”. It earned the Best in Class award at the Good Design Awards in 2018.
Huskee Chair and CEO and founder of Pablo & Rusty’s Coffee Roasters, Saxon Wright, said: “Our objective was to work out how we can we make a significant change within our industry, and consequently our planet. But also add value back to everyone that participates.”
How does it work?
The company says the system is simple. Customers hand in their HuskeeCup and lid at the counter when they place their order. The vendor serves up their coffee in a fresh HuskeeCup and cleans the old one before returning it to the float for future use.
For the consumer, the coffee comes in a fresh HuskeeCup at no charge, ready to drink.
For the vendor, HuskeeSwap eliminates the variables of size and cleanliness from the process. It therefore provides a cheaper, sustainable alternative to ceramic or single-use cups.
Huskee says cafés can subscribe to become a member now. A monthly subscription will give vendors three opportunities:
- To sell HuskeeCups as a retail item
- To use HuskeeCups as a dine-in coffee cup; and
- To incorporate HuskeeCups as a takeaway coffee cup.
“Our hope is to make a significant positive financial impact on every café and create additional revenue for coffee farmers, while collaborating on solving a major waste problem,” Mr Wright said. “If we work together on this, the potential scale of change is amazing.”
