NextGen Consortium trials reusable to-go cups in California and gains consumer support

The NextGen Consortium, led by Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy, has released results from the Petaluma Reusable Cup Project, highlighting increasing community engagement in beverage cup reusability across Petaluma, US.

The project is the first initiative to implement citywide reuse in California. With support from brands including Starbucks, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Yum! Brands, the project demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale reusable cup systems. 

According to NextGen’s newly published report, “Making Reuse an Everyday Reality: Insights and Impact from the Petaluma Reusable Cup Project,” a sufficient number of reusable cups were returned to yield environmental benefits over single-use alternatives. 

Carolina Lobel, senior director at the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, says: “The Petaluma Reusable Cup Project demonstrated an ambitious, innovative vision of reuse as an everyday reality, paving the way for the consortium to scale reuse in California and other markets. Together, we can scale the solutions that have been proven to work and solve the current open challenges identified in the Petaluma project.”

Community engagement

The program provided to-go beverage customers with a reusable cup at no cost. Over three months, 30 businesses — including national brands and local restaurants — participated in the effort. According to the center, consumer response was positive, with returns increasing rapidly in the initial weeks and surpassing 220,000 returned cups by the project’s conclusion.

Each cup features a QR code, allowing the NextGen Consortium to monitor sales, returns, and other key data points.Some of the reusable cups in this project were supplied by Berry Global and were collected, washed, and recirculated by logistics company Muuse.

The initiative emerged against the backdrop of mounting regulatory, consumer, and environmental pressures to reduce single-use packaging waste. This month, California is finalizing the regulation for the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. The legislation establishes a new EPR program to manage packaging and single-use plastic in F&B products.

Kevin McDonnell, mayor of the city of Petaluma, says: “This project got the whole community involved. Deep public-private partnerships, including commerce and nonprofits collaborating, demonstrated that it is possible to launch an inclusive and accessible reuse system that supports our residents.”

”People got into it, and it was the talk of the town. We are thrilled to be a part of this important work to scale reuse systems that keep our communities clean and support positive environmental outcomes.”

The NextGen Consortium, which has been working on reuse innovation for over five years, views this pilot as a step toward scalable solutions. The consortium aims to build on the results, calling on brands, retailers, cities, and innovators to join upcoming reuse activations across the US to further accelerate the transition toward a waste-free future.