What is the environmental measure of using HuskeeCups over other materials?Updated 4 months ago
In March 2020, Huskee commissioned an independent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) report through Edge Environmental Consulting. Here are some of the things we learned through this process as a company, and our key takeaways of this LCA:
- Cafes save up to $0.32 for every single-use cup and lid replaced
- It only takes 15 swaps to break even for a cafe in terms of capital and operational cost
- The HuskeeSwap system has a negligible impact on workflow (Time = $$)
- A modest 10% uptake by a cafe would equate to over $3,600 a year in savings (assumption: cafe selling 900 coffees/day and 56% take-away)
- A cafe saves $73 per customer per year (assumption: 1 coffee/day at $0.20 saving)
(adjusted for 2023 costs)
HuskeeCup Break Even Point
The break even measure of a product is an environmental measure of the costs to make that product (materials, energy, transport) and disposal - against those of a single-use item. Over the lifecycle of a cup, the environmental benefits increase when reused. The break even point is the number of uses required at which the benefits surpass those of single-use.
Based on peer-reviewed LCA analyses and the Upstream Reuse Wins Report, here is a comparison of Huskee Cups against other reusable cup materials.
Based on peer-reviewed LCA analyses and the Upstream Reuse Wins Report, here is a comparison of Huskee Cups against other reusable cup materials.
Reusable Cup Breakeven point Comparison
The average number of uses that a reusable cup must be used, to be more environmentally friendly than a single-use plastic-lined cup:
- Stainless Steel - 120 uses
- Ceramic - 70 uses
- Glass - 36 uses
- Huskee - 25 uses
The Break even point against compostable cups are only slightly higher; which in several ways are a 'regrettable substitution', and are more expensive to a business bottom line. Read more about Reuse vs Compostables here.