Alison Cove, CEO and Founder UsefulWorking at the forefront of a major shift in our approach to food service sustainability. By implementing a collection system for reusable food packaging, USEFULL helps college and corporate cafeterias reduce their reliance on single-use plastic and paper packaging. Alison joins the conversation to explain the company’s trackable and tech-enabled reusable steel food containers and cups. After implementing USEFULL’s reusable system, Carleton College saw its loss rate drop from nearly 60% to less than 1%. This achievement is part of a broader movement to create a campus circular food service system to reduce waste and foster a broader culture of sustainability.
The importance of reusable food service containers cannot be overstated. Single-use plastics contribute significantly to global plastic pollution, especially in the food service sector. The disposable food service container market in the United States alone is huge, with annual sales of approximately $27.81 billion. The widespread use of disposables not only increases the billions of tons of waste generated each year, but also worsens the environmental impact through the production, disposal, and potential contamination of these single-use items. More information about USEFULL can be found at: https://www.usefull.us/
