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All the latest ideas and news from Upstream’s thought leaders and partners.

Guest User 4/13/23 Guest User 4/13/23

3 Takeaways from the WWF Plastic Policy summit

Upstream’s Policy Director Sydney Harris recently returned from the WWF Plastic Policy Summit—and can report that reuse is on the move.

Guest User 3/7/23 Guest User 3/7/23

Principles for Reuse in EPR & DRS

State legislation such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Deposit Return Systems (DRS) must focus on transitioning to a circular economy that prioritizes reuse.

Guest User 1/19/23 Guest User 1/19/23

Reuse Policy Wins in 2022

Sydney Harris, Upstream’s interim Strategic Policy Advisor, walks us through the many reuse policy victories to celebrate from 2022.

Vanessa Tiongson 11/21/22 Vanessa Tiongson 11/21/22

Upstream shares vision for New Reuse Economy

Today, Upstream released a new white paper: The New Reuse Economy: How reuse systems and services will revolutionize how we consume – which expands upon their vision to see 30% of consumable goods sold in reusable formats in the U.S. and Canada by 2030.

Matt Prindiville 11/17/22 Matt Prindiville 11/17/22

Upstream’s Vision

We’re excited to bring you into the conversation about an updated direction for Upstream and what we’re working to accomplish in the world.

Guest User 9/30/22 Guest User 9/30/22

Upstream and Closed Loop Partners Announce Winners of The Reusies® 2022, Identifying Leaders in Eliminating Single-Use Products

Announcing… the winners of The Reusies 2022!

Erin Covey-Smith 9/15/22 Erin Covey-Smith 9/15/22

Two Reusies Finalists Among Innovators in Reusable Bag Pilots

Closed Loop Partners released a report this week – Beyond the Plastic Bag: Sparking a Seachange for Reuse – that illustrates reuse innovations in action. And it features two finalists for The Reusies® Most Innovative Reuse Company: GOATOTE and Fill it Forward.

Vanessa Tiongson 9/1/22 Vanessa Tiongson 9/1/22

What does “indisposable” mean to you?

The Indisposable Podcast™ is celebrating its 100th episode this week! We turned to some members of the Upstream team to see what “indisposable” has come to mean to them.

Vanessa Tiongson 8/24/22 Vanessa Tiongson 8/24/22

Meet the Innovators of the Reuse Movement

Meet the finalists for The Reusies® 2022!

Guest User 7/29/22 Guest User 7/29/22

The New Reuse Economy: The future of food service is reusable

Emerging trends in foodservice have the potential to completely disrupt our current disposable food-service paradigm and replace it with something better.

Macy Zander 7/15/22 Macy Zander 7/15/22

Reuse Cities are the Key to an Indisposable Future

Community coalitions like Reuse Seattle are leading the way in developing the New Reuse Economy – and Upstream’s Macy Zander is here to help.

Matt Prindiville 7/1/22 Matt Prindiville 7/1/22

Beverage Refill & The New Reuse Economy

The beverage sector is one of the ripest sectors for reuse. Leaving out closed systems like reuse for on-site dining, more beverage reuse/refill systems operate at scale than all other open systems.

Matt Prindiville 6/2/22 Matt Prindiville 6/2/22

3 Takeaways from Circularity 22

Upstream CEO Matt Prindiville just returned from GreenBiz’s Circularity Conference. It was a sold-out 3 day affair with more than a thousand sustainability professionals from virtually every consumer brand, plus representatives from the rest of their value chain. Here are three valuable takeaways from the conference.

Matt Prindiville 5/19/22 Matt Prindiville 5/19/22

EPR: it’s not just for recycling anymore

Even though Extended Producer Responsibility has in theory been about creating a circular economy for packaging, in practice, the only goals that have been applied in legislation so far are recycling targets. The effect has been increased recycling where EPR systems are in place, but no actual reduction in the generation of packaging waste. We can change this.

Matt Prindiville 5/12/22 Matt Prindiville 5/12/22

Celebrating the Visionary Sego Jackson on his Retirement

This week, Sego Jackson - one of Upstream’s founding board members - retired from the City of Seattle. As the saying goes, “People don’t remember what you said. They remember how you made them feel.” And I remember the way Sego made me feel when I first met him back in 2004.

Guest User 2/10/22 Guest User 2/10/22

How Extended Producer Responsibility Can Help Build a Waste-Free Future

EPR – aka extended producer responsibility – is a policy tool that holds consumer brands responsible for the environmental impacts of their products and packaging. Learn how EPR can move us toward a circular economy that follows the waste reduction hierarchy of reduce and reuse first, before recycling.

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