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An ISO-compliant comparative assertion LCA of the nation's largest restaurant reusables program
From 2019 to 2023, I served as Chief Sustainability Officer of Just Salad, a leading healthy fast-casual restaurant brand and certified B Corp that operates the largest circular packaging program in the industry.
This program, called "MyBowl," has scaled successfully across six U.S. states (and counting), partly because of its simplicity: For $1, customers purchase a reusable bowl, and every time they bring it back, they're rewarded with a free salad topping. (MyBowl users also benefit from special discounts and promotions throughout the year.)
One of my top priorities as CSO was to conduct a life cycle analysis that compared the environmental impacts of the MyBowl versus disposable salad containers. It was essential that we quantify the number of times that the MyBowl had to be used before its carbon and water footprints fell below those of single-use bowls.
The importance of the breakeven rate
This metric is known as the breakeven rate, and it is an essential calculation for businesses that are serious about achieving decarbonization through circularity, preventing unintended environmental consequences, and avoiding greenwashing.
The breakeven rate informs everything from customer marketing to employee training. For example, if the breakeven rate of your reusable container is n uses, then you can design rewards and incentives programs that reward the n+1 use. Employees who are educated on the breakeven rate can engage with customers accordingly, encouraging them to keep reusing. This, in turn, promotes real decarbonization and waste reduction, which in turn prevents greenwashing.
We partnered with the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute on a third-party life cycle analysis that compared our 100% polypropylene MyBowl with the disposable fiber bowls (made from bagasse, which is derived from sugarcane). Our LCA determined that after two uses, the MyBowl resulted in 41% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than single-use containers, and 27% less water consumption.
Learn more about LCA
To learn more about our LCA, read the summary case study, check out our online course, or contact sandra [at] thenewgreennormal [dot] com.