Case Study: Boston University achieves major waste reduction with Topanga’s ReusePass reusable packaging program

How Boston University launched ReusePass in their Retail dining locations with Topanga's Grubhub integration

Boston University's retail dining operations, BU Dining, faced significant challenges in reducing waste from to-go containers. Their previous tech-enabled reusable packaging program suffered from poor return rates and low student accountability, which hurt its overall return on investment. The lack of an integration with the Grubhub ordering platform also prevented the program from scaling effectively. This led them to seek a new solution, which they found with vendor Topanga and their ReusePass product.

Topanga implemented its Grubhub-integrated ReusePass program, a packaging-agnostic system that utilized SMS accountability texts and a student ambassador program for promotion. The results were highly successful, including a 95% container return rate and a 78% reduction in disposable packaging. The program achieved a 90% reach across undergraduates and each reusable container was used over 10 times on average, making it 45% cheaper per use than single-use alternatives. Topanga's solution also generated extra funds from surcharges and fees for BU to reinvest.

Boston University

Dan VanAvery

Director of Retail Operations