Upstream’s vision for reaching the “tipping point” where reuse services become a widespread, cross-sectional, intraoperative industry and an everyday utility

While the reuse movement has gained a great deal of momentum over the last several years, we have learned that information is not enough to create the seismic systemic change we need to shift away from our throw-away economy. The movement is going to benefit from a whole lot more doing.

“How do we make the switch to reuse?” - Working with transformational partners

Many of the groups and companies we’ve talked to who say they are “ready” for change have shared several barriers to making the switch, like:

• Reuse looks like the right choice for us, but isn’t something we know how to do. We need guidance. 

• What can we tell the C-Suite about cost increases, transfers, or savings to our company?

• Our operations staff (dining, facilities, custodial) say they don’t know how it will work in terms of storage space, dishwashing, serveware, equipment, and collection—so we’re trying to recognize their concerns while also pushing for changes. We don’t know what to do. 

• Policies have been passed in cities where we operate. How do we comply? 

• What partners/vendors do we need? How do we write an RFP for this? 

• I want to use a third party reuse provider but there’s not one near us. 

Until the reuse movement hits its tipping point, institutions, government, and businesses need intense, expert guidance over the barriers (perceived and real) to change. Their challenges become opportunities and demonstrate a need to bridge data — the impact analyses and best practices — with doing. Upstream seeks to address these challenges and fill the biggest gaps in the movement, which include social proof, process support, and buildout of infrastructure. 

To that end, we are securing partnerships with “Transformational Partners”—which we define as institutions, corporations, and governments that have readiness, volume, scale, and buying power, as well as influence over peers—who want to be leaders in their sector to create a model reuse venue. These sectors include K-12 schools, universities, entertainment and sports venues, national parks, airports and airport catering.

Upstream overlays our expertise to guide those Transformational Partners through successful transition – from stakeholder engagement and procurement, to operations design, to education and messaging, partnering with reuse service providers to fill gaps. And finally, we package those resulting success stories into roadmaps, phased plans, study tours, and readiness workshops to leverage even broader transformation in those sectors.

Aggregating Demand

Upstream knows that growing and supporting the reuse service industry, and specifically growing its infrastructure, is imperative to the paradigm shift to reuse. But reuse service providers can’t blindly build facilities in new cities without confidence that they’ll have business. To justify the buildout of reuse services and infrastructure in new markets, Upstream is holding conversations and doing deep research to identify geographic hotspots for reuse. 

Commitments from high-volume anchor clients in those hotspots, such as school systems and sports & entertainment venues, combined with the issuance of a principled, evidence-based Request for Proposals (RFPs), can scale reuse infrastructure swiftly and effectively. The emergence of infrastructure in a new market, made possible by those anchor client venues, means that all the lower volume waste-producing entities in a city or region (e.g grocery stores, festival grounds, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, corporate cafes) will have access to reuse services, too, and at a lower cost.

Identifying and working with Transformational Partners and aggregating demand—together with building a Reuse Service Industry Alliance and funding mechanisms (more on this to come!)—will create the tipping point where reuse services become a widespread, cross-sectional, intraoperative industry and an everyday utility. And, alongside our partners in the movement, we are pouring all our efforts into getting to that point.