HuskeeSwap - case study

Background and purpose

Huskee began their journey with the iconic HuskeeCup, made from coffee husk, with the goal to eliminate the need for single-use disposable coffee cups. In collaboration with Victorian social enterprise Co-Ground and Swinburne University, Huskee was awarded $20,000 from Sustainability Victoria under the Circular Economy Reuse Pilots Fund. The project involved the implementation of their existing HuskeeSwap system in a university and mobile events setting.

HuskeeSwap enables participation in reuse over recycling by providing an elegant alternative to single-use coffee cups and lids. Their cup exchange system is designed to make reusables as convenient as single-use, for both businesses and consumers. Customers can simply hand over their HuskeeCup when they place an order and receive their drink in a cleaned HuskeeCup.

This unique closed-loop system results in cost savings for the business, fewer single-use cups ending up in landfill, and an empowered community who are encouraged to bring their own (BYO) and choose to refuse single-use items.

The program

The pilot ran across 3 months in 2023, focusing on 11 venues at Swinburne University Hawthorn and several corporate sites and events through social enterprise Co-Ground.

After identifying a few suitable events to trial the service, Co-Ground received a fleet of 200 cups to start circulating. The team developed key assets to help deliver the events and increase awareness of the project, including:

• a collapsible bin system
• bin signage to inform attendees how to return their cups
• display stands and information cards.

A project launch at Swinburne University helped raise awareness, with participating venues providing a discount on the purchase of HuskeeCups. Implementing the discount reduced barriers for student uptake while maintaining a perception of value, which is important for behaviour change. Customers received up to 3 free coffees with the purchase of a cup, and venues were reimbursed for the free coffees by Huskee. Further activations took place at the university to encourage uptake, with a lot of attendees.

The impact

The grant funding was invaluable in allowing Huskee and their project partners to support the implementation of a reuse network within a campus setting and mobile coffee service. A conservative estimate shows that 14,000 single-use plastic items (90 kg) avoided going to landfill across the 3 months. Cafés also saw a cost saving of $280 in single-use items and a total benefit of $1,000 overall. These figures include an average of only 7% of customers participating. With 100% reuse, each venue had the potential to save close to $5,700 in packaging during this time.

The HuskeeSwap system was positively received by staff, students, and event participants with people desiring a shift from single-use items. Incorporating the reuse system into a small event resulted in a good uptake even with a ‘high value’ item such as a HuskeeCup.

A collaborative ‘onboarding tracker’ was developed, which proved very valuable in monitoring, sharing, and coordinating between project partners, and registration forms helped to identify venues and determine their suitability.

Challenges

The onboarding and implementation phase can often be the most time-consuming and challenging aspect of a reuse project. Even though the timeline was quite short, the team ensured they spent a significant amount of time engaging with key stakeholders on-the-ground to understand their needs and provide support prior to launch. This resulted in a smoother launch and created trust early on. A resource toolkit was further developed for venues which helped break down barriers in communication and provided accessible information for time-poor businesses.

Plans to implement a loyalty program during the pilot were delayed for technical reasons, but the team is happy to report that this initiative is now live. Huskee looks forward to further testing the uptake and gauging feedback around this feature in the coming months.

Observations and next steps

Reuse models such as HuskeeSwap often require significant ongoing support, so future projects should focus on education to influence behaviour change of on-site staff and consumers. Understanding the needs and capacity of different stakeholders is vital to a fruitful project. With successful uptake, venues will reap the benefits in terms of cost savings, and consumers will feel more empowered to BYO.

True success should be measured by the integration of these systems, with more businesses adopting the reuse model as the norm and uptake increasing in the community.

Following the success of the pilot, Swinburne University have joined the Huskee University Partnership program, with plans to implement HuskeeSwap at their Croydon and Wantirna campuses. Co-Ground will continue to offer and refine their zero-waste events coffee service program.

Hear more about the HuskeeSwap project at our upcoming webinar Circular Economy Showcase: Reuse Pilots in Office Buildings on Tuesday 22 August 2023 at 1:30 pm.

*Data provided was a mix of venue sales reports and estimates. Results listed here are inferred from the data averages collected during the project period (3 months, 8 venues). 14,040 = 7,020 cups + 7,020 lids.