Could a 'lending library' for takeout tins solve a persistent trash problem?

Brown paper boxes crusty with the garlicky remains of a takeout order pile up under the counter, waiting, impatiently, for trash day. The smell sours. Flies buzz.

Finally, after a week, the greasy cardboard vanishes into garbage trucks. The problem no longer lives under the kitchen sink. But takeout trash filling landfills is a problem of its own—and a growing one.

Takeout trash

COVID-19 changed the world in a lot of ways—some big, and some as small as where people want to eat.

Takeout—whether via delivery, pickup, or app-summoned courier—soared in popularity when dining-in wasn’t possible. When restaurants opened again, the habit of picking up a nice meal to go stuck around.

But the increasing amounts of takeout led to more single-use containers (from cups to clamshells to boxes to tinfoil swans) leaving restaurants full of noodles or burgers and landing, eventually in landfills.

Some restaurants used dompostable, biodegradable, and recyclable containers, but thosedon’t necessarily solve the problem. They’re tough to compost at local facilities, take years to biodegrade, and don’t always get recycled properly.

Takeout Tins

Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley Regional District might soon try out a potential solution to the problem.

Reusables, a company that already operates in Seattle and Vancouver, runs a “container-sharing platform” that provides stainless steel containers to member restaurants. Customers who are also part of the program (it’s a $5 a month membership) can ask for their order in the reusable metal tins.

Businesses pay $75 a month to participate. Whether or not that fee is waived for the pilot project in Chilliwack wasn’t clear. It’s going well for one restaurant in Vancouver that’s paying for the service.

“The costs are low and the app is simple to use for customers and us,” said a manager of The Burrow, a mexican vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver. “For such an infant company, they're really doing a lot of leg work so the system remains clear and easy for us. We're a busy restaurant and have our fair share of Reusables users…We're excited to see where this important mission goes.”

When the tins are empty, the customers return them to any restaurant that uses the containers. (Tins don’t have to be returned to the same restaurant they came from.)

Where and when the containers are returned are tracked by QR codes. It operates like a “lending library.”

The year-long pilot hasn’t yet been approved. The Fraser Valley Regional District will discuss it at a meeting later today.

If it goes ahead, it will cost the city and regional district $20,000 and would involve up to 25 businesses. Upfront costs cover the purchase of the tech-enabled containers, return bins, and other start-up costs like recruiting and training businesses involved. Those funds will also pay for the data required to determine how the program is functioning—and whether or not it’s helping fix the growing problem of takeout trash. If successful in Chilliwack, the program could spread to other cities in the valley.