Group of people outdoors holding their REUSEABLE cups together for a cheers

More than 750,000 cups returned for reuse

Aarhus marks first year anniversary of its successful reuse pilot with TOMRA Reuse

One year in, the world’s first city-wide platform for reusable takeaway packaging in Aarhus, Denmark demonstrates that it is possible to combine convenience on the go with more circular practices. The most heavily circulated REUSEABLE cups have so far completed an impressive 33 loops of reuse.

On January 17, 2024, TOMRA and Aarhus, Denmark embarked on a journey together to pilot a city-scale platform for reusable takeaway packaging, starting with coffee cups and glasses. The three-year pilot project set out to establish a proof-of-concept that could demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of a city shifting from single-use to reusable takeaway packaging – and what would be needed to develop this further on a larger scale.

“It has been a lot of hard work and we’ve gained many learnings throughout the year – but this is the nature of building new solutions from the ground up. I would highlight two key success factors: the great collaboration we have with Aarhus Municipality, who has really leaned in to innovate and co-create with us – and secondly, the way baristas and restaurant staff are stepping up to educate and convince people to choose REUSEABLE. We will continue our efforts to make it even easier, attractive, and convenient to use our system,” said Geir Sæther, Head of TOMRA Reuse.

Woman in t-shirt holding a coffee drink in a clear REUSEABLE cup in the street outside a coffee shop

How it works

The system implemented in Aarhus, branded as REUSEABLE, has focused initially on the use of reusable cups which are available to consumers as an alternative option to single-use cups when purchasing takeaway drinks at cafés and quick-serve restaurants in the city. Consumers opting for a reusable cup pay an additional deposit of 5 DKK (EUR 0.67) when purchasing a beverage, and this deposit is digitally refunded to the consumer when they return the cup at one of the automated collection machines located throughout Aarhus. Read more about the complete system here.

User experience drives adoption

The results of the pilot after one year of operation are very encouraging. In a survey of Aarhus residents conducted by Aarhus Municipality in conjunction with Epinion,* the majority of users have indicated that they are satisfied with the system overall.

Additionally, the survey shows that residents who use REUSEABLE more than occasionally tend to be more satisfied with the system compared to citizens who have only used the system once or a few times. The tendency for satisfaction to increase the more frequently the system is used suggests that the added effort of returning the packaging to a collection point (compared to disposable packaging) is not in itself a hindrance to successful adoption of the system.

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*The REUSEABLE study is based on 1,039 web interviews with residents of Aarhus Municipality, collected via Epinion's permanent panel partners. The responses were collected in the period from November 26 to December 8, 2024.

graph showing satisfaction level of Aarhus residents with REUSEABLE in December 2024

Gathering feedback to further improve performance

The survey also asked the residents of Aarhus if there were any potential improvements that would motivate them to use the system more. The most important factor cited that would encourage residents who had not yet used the system to do so was adding more collection machines, closer to or at all establishments where the reusable cups are sold.

graph showing elements desired by residents of Aarhus to increase use of REUSEABLE

Highlights from the first year

Although it was a cold day in Aarhus at the outdoor press event in “Lille Torv” in the city center on January 17th, those in attendance were kept warm with coffee served in REUSEABLE cups and speeches given by Nicolaj Bang, Alderman for Technical Services and Environment, Aarhus Municipality, Tove Andersen, President and CEO of TOMRA, and Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus.

As the warmer weather of spring and summer arrived, there were many outdoor events in the city that also utilized the REUSEABLE system. At the largest of these, Festuge, over 95,000 REUSEABLE cups were sold during the 10-day festival, an amount that would have filled over 1,200 waste bins if disposable cups had been used.

“It has been fantastic to see how many Aarhus residents and business owners have taken the lead and been ready to test new solutions to the challenges of disposable packaging. Aarhus supports a development towards more standardized reusable solutions, and we are experiencing great national and international interest in the project. I hope that our experiences can contribute positively to, for example, the national partnership for reusable packaging, for which funds have just been allocated in the national Finance Act,” says Nicolaj Bang, Councillor, Technology and Environment, Aarhus Municipality.

Official opening of the REUSEABLE pilot in Aarhus on January 17, 2024:  (from left) Nicolaj Bang, Alderman for Technical Services and Environment, Aarhus Municipality, Tove Andersen, President and CEO of TOMRA, and Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus
Official opening of REUSEABLE pilot in Aarhus on January 17, 2024: (from left) Nicolaj Bang, Alderman for Technical Services and Environment, Aarhus Municipality; Tove Andersen, President and CEO, TOMRA; and Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus.

At the end of the first year, over 750,000 REUSEABLE cups have been returned in Aarhus -- eliminating the equivalent of some 7,500 waste bins of disposable cups from the waste management system in Aarhus.  

Looking ahead

New developments will continue to be made during the second year of the pilot, including TOMRA’s rollout of a new collection machine that accepts both reusable beverage cups and food packaging. The success of the pilot in Aarhus has also inspired other cities to pursue similar initiatives, and we can expect to see an expansion of reusable “on-the-go” packaging programs in multiple cities and regions.