Reusable Bowls (for the food service industry)

RECUP offers reusable bowls and cups for small businesses. Based in Germany (where it’s used by over 20,000 outlets), again customers buy say a bowl of soup, eat it at the office then return to receive their deposit back.

The cups are rented for £1 and bowls for £5. It takes just 6 uses of the bowls (and 12 for cups) to start saving money for your business. And you then no longer have to buy disposable food and drinks packaging.

Read our post on food safety for people and pets.

Each RECUP can replace up to 1000 single-use cups, and each REBOWL can be used up to 500 times. The cups are sold in various sizes to accommodate all needs, and are stackable to save space, and dishwasher-friendly.

Both items are also food-safe, shatterproof and a deposit lid is available on demand. The bowls are in 3 sizes (one with a divider lid to separate sauces etc) and also leakproof and heat-resistant up to 85 degrees C.

And research shows that nearly 100% of customers like the idea, and get involved. You can then market that you do this, within your community.

This company was founded by two young men in Germany (one is Swedish) who were astounded at the billions of single-use plastic cups and bowls being served each day (around 184 cups a second and 85 plates a second).

They both had come up with the idea of reusable food service packaging independently while studying sustainability, put their brains together and launched in 2016. It’s now the leading brand in its niche, with millions of pounds in funding, working with big names like IKEA and Burger King. So why not here?

According to industry reports, cafés can spend anywhere from £2,000 to £10,000 annually on single-use packaging. This figure can vary based on the café’s size and customer volume. By making a switch, you’ll notice those costs shrinking.

The company also offers reusable drinks cups:

What’s Wrong with Clingfilm?

Clingfilm is awful stuff. It remains one of the plastics that can’t be recycled, and due to removing PVC, it now does not even work properly, often falling apart when you try to wrap food with it.

It also produces ‘nurdles’ during production, which look like fish food, if they end up in the sea (which they inevitably do). There are tons of eco alternatives these days, search this site, look online – or cover your food with a plate!

Ökobowl (a reusable food bowl from Germany)

Ökobowl is a smashing idea from Berlin, used nationwide. Why are companies in England not following suit, considering the litter problems we have?

Also sold alongside reusable cups, the bowl can be washed around 1000 times in the dishwasher, and is sold with or without a lid, and easy to stack for optimal drying. Free from nasty chemicals, the bowls are odourless and tasteless.

Businesses in the UK can order the bowls, though we don’t yet have a deposit return scheme, so you’ll have to kind of make up your own, offering refundable deposits to return them.

The bowls are sold in 4 sizes, and ideal for delis or cafes that wish to offer snacks or soups, but without the hassle and expense of disposable bowls.

People simply pay say £1 for a bowl, then return it to receive their deposit back. You wash the bowl and off you go again. It will mean more profits for you too.

Inspiration from Plastic-Free Modbury (Devon)

The Devon town of Modbury became Europe’s first plastic-bag free town a few years back, after a local woman (who had filmed birds dying from ingesting plastic while filming for the BBC abroad) managed to get everyone switching over in just a few weeks.

Even the supermarket got on board. And so did the local delis, which to this day offer compostable pots. So why are so many small businesses in England still handing out plastic-lined disposable pots? It’s not just barmy for the planet, but is also costing the businesses money, as they have to buy new pots.

Why is the UK Deposit Return Scheme Delayed?

Along with many other barmy decisions of recent governments, the long-awaited deposit return scheme (where machines would let people return pots, cans and bottles for money, to rid our country of litter) has now been delayed until 2027.

And get why? Because our (English) government says it does not want glass to be included. Scotland and Wales are on board. And Finland has been recycling glass bottles in deposit return schemes since the 60s?!

The government says it would be too complicated to set up?

Our neighbours in Europe have been running DRS schemes successfully for years. In what kind of world is collecting glass drinks containers not an essential part of a system designed to collect drinks containers? It reeks of corporate lobbying, who do everything to push the problems they create onto others. Greenpeace UK

Caulibox: Homegrown Reusable Food Containers

CauliBox is a company that makes reusable food containers for shops, made more popular by the recent single-use plastic ban on  some takeaway containers and cutlery.

Founded by 2 London foodies in 2019, it aims to prevent 15 million single-use plastic items from being given out at takeaway restaurants and shops.

These boxes work a little differently to most reusable bowls, in that customers use an app, to find a location. The boxes are then free on loan, as long as they are returned within 7 days. With washing-up done for them! Some towns have CauliKiosks (just pop bowls back in, after lunch).

CauliBoxes are leakproof and odour-proof, with a lid that seals perfectly. The stackable boxes are safe for dishwashers and microwaves, and recycled by the company after 400 or so uses. There are also CauliCups and a reusable Cauli Pizza Box!

The boxes are made in the Czech Republic to minimise air miles and Co2 production. Why not join the 10K fans using CauliBox? The company can supply to any food-service business. Users report savings of between £4K to £10K per year.

Users also automatically earn CauliCoins through their app or user account, to redeem for free food and drinks at partner locations. This is to help encourage use of the reusable alternatives.