Celebrating a breakthrough year!
December 29, 2022 | Written by Rachel Warren
As 2022 comes to an end we reflect on our incredible breakthrough year.
Our highlights include pioneering digital reuse and recycling projects with evian , Wimbledon, Blenheim Palace and Sainsbury’s and growing our team – with Doug Morwood joining as CEO to help accelerate and support our growth.
We loved collaborating with you in 2022 and look forward to continuing our mission, moving from linear to circular together. Enabling reuse and recycling projects with our innovative re-universe technology platform.
Engaging citizens, reaching global brands and strengthening collaborations, so that together we can influence change.
2022 Highlights
Game – Set – Match!
This Summer we deployed our digital platform at The Championships Wimbledon 2022, partnering with evian in their first-ever reward scheme #ScanRecycleWin.
Visitors to The Championships recycled their drinks containers and got a chance to win finals tickets to Wimbledon 2023 using the re-universe recycling platform.
This is the the start of a longer term relationship with evian to explore how Digital DRS can enhance the Deposit Return Scheme planned to be introduced in Scotland in 2023 and England, Wales and Northern Ireland further in the future.
This is what evian said…
“We were delighted to launch a new recycling reward scheme at The Championships, Wimbledon 2022 in partnership with re-universe, to encourage recycling of drinks containers at Wimbledon. It was exciting to see visitors using the web-app, scanning recycling points then their bottles or cans to return them and ensure that packaging could be kept in the loop. The team were also really agile and responsive, making this activation seamless and successful!”
Pauline Gordon Brand Manager Plain Water (evian & Volvic)
Digital returnable cup system at Blenheim Palace
In the Autumn we launched our returnable cup system at Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site, eradicating single use cups. With strong visitor engagement, this scheme gives cup-to-cup traceability and allows Blenheim to better understand visitor behaviour and impact around reuse.
Each cup has a unique QR code which, when scanned, automatically opens our re-universe returnable platform, entering the user into a prize draw and bringing visitor engagement and traceability to every cup. Initially the scheme is being trialled in the Walled Gardens and The Stables Cafe with an ambition to expand it across the entire estate as a deposit return scheme.
We are proud to be collaborating with Circular&Co. and Unisan.
Circular&Co. are pioneers in circular cups and provide the brilliant returnable cups for this initiative. Unisan create the impactful return points that capture returns.
This is what Blenheim said…
“We serve over 400,000 hot drinks at Blenheim each year, so this new scheme has the potential to make a big impact. We’ve already learned a lot and are now looking at ways to communicate more about the system with our visitors and to further incentivise their use. We believe climate change is the single biggest threat to Blenheim’s long-term survival and we’re committed to doing all we can to reduce and mitigate its impacts and help safeguard this World Heritage Site and its resources for future generations”
David Green Head of Innovation Blenheim
We recently met Robert Courts MP at Blenheim and shared the scheme with him.
“It was great to have the opportunity to see the cups in action at Blenheim and to find out more about how the scheme works and its global potential.
The Digital Returnable Cup System is operated by re-universe and I am delighted to be supporting their innovative approach to sustainability and their partnership with Blenheim”
Robert Courts MP
National Recycle Week with evian and Sainsbury’s
In October we kicked off National Recycle Week with an evian and Sainsbury’s scan, recycle, win campaign. The scheme rewarded shopper for recycling, entering them into a free prize draw with the chance to win Finals Tickets to Wimbledon 2023.
Award Winners – Technology Excellence Award
We were delighted to win the OXBA CIS Technology Excellence Award. Held at Oxford Brookes University, the Awards benchmark excellence, and we were pleased to be recognised for our work.
GS1 Partner
We recently became a recognised GS1 partner and our use of GS1 standards has been approved. We use unique GS1 codes locally and globally, identifying and tracking each individual item and bringing rich data and insights to every project.
This is what GS1 said…
“The investment re-universe have made is very exciting, they are both creative and push boundaries with very innovative ideas. The use of our standards will undoubtedly future proof their customers and we are delighted to be working with them to reduce our collective dependency on single use plastic packaging. This organisations values are the bedrock of their ambition. I really enjoy working with them, they are a dedicated team”
Jason Hale Head of Product GS1
Doug Morwood joins the re-universe team as CEO
This month Doug Morwood joined the re-universe team to help accelerate the massive growth opportunities ahead.
Doug is well respected within the world of reuse and brings significant expertise in circular systems and system change, including delivering transformative projects such as a 3-year EU H2020 project researching Circular Systems change and informing policy and business recommendations.
Doug will help the business in its next stage of rapid growth, working closely with the re-universe team to maximise the incredible opportunities ahead.
“I am delighted to join the dynamic team at re-universe. With alarming statistics on waste and single use, we need real-world solutions to enable circularity, and re-universe delivers just that. With successful reuse and recycling projects under their belts, I look forward to harnessing the potential of re-universe globally and locally, alongside strengthening partnerships/collaborations so that together we can influence change”
Doug Morwood – CEO re-universe
You can read more here
Thank you to everyone who helped make 2022 a brilliant year.
We look forward to working with you all in 2023 and beyond.
Please contact hello@re-universe.com if you’d like to chat to us about increasing your circularity