Frequently Asked Questions

Consumers:

  • We know our reusables are fun and easy to use, so we don’t blame you for holding on to them! While we would love to see you return them and engage with the circular aspect of the program, we won’t hound you to bring anything back. If you do bring your precious back, our Partners will return your deposit (yay, quick cash!). If not, we’ve designed our items to be completely recyclable at the end of their lives. So, if you enjoy it so much that you want to keep it, all we ask is that you recycle it when you decide it’s time to get yourself a new one.

  • Yes, it is safe, though this question is a complicated one. Generally speaking, drinking from reusable polypropylene (PP) cups is safer than drinking from a polyethylene (PE)-lined paper cup. More so, most single-use plastic lids for hot drinks are made of polystyrene (PS), which begins to release micro-plastics and leach chemicals when exposed to UV radiation (walking around outside or letting your drink sit in your car’s cup holder).

    While the research shows hazards stemming from consuming hot food and drink out of plastics of any type, the same research shows PP being the safest option when compared to single-use paper cups and compostable cups.

    What’s more is that these lined paper cups are also hard to recycle because the plastic is hard to separate from the pulp, forcing the vast majority of single-use cups to end up in landfills. By switching your to-go drink consumption from single-use to reusables, you’re doing something that is better than the disposable option in more ways than one.

  • No, we’ve designed our system so you can order like you normally do! All you have to do is ask your barista for your drink in a reusable cup!

  • We love seeing grassroots initiative! Head over to our Contact page and let us know which of your favorite places you would like to see adopt Retrocycle solutions!

  • Bring it back to a participating partner location! They will return your deposit and send the reusable back to us where we will recycle them. Grab yourself a new reusable and enjoy your food/drink. Oh, and try not to break the new one, please ;)

    Unfortunately, if you lose your cup you won’t be able to get your deposit back. While we love the convenience of not having an app, it means we do not have the ability to track the reusables.

Partners:

  • The power in Retrocycle’s system is the ability of a consumer to pick up a reusable item from one location and drop it off at another seamlessly. An enabling element of this is that the reusables are branded for their city, town, or region with the purpose of enhancing community ownership and pride. This means we do not add store-specific branding to the reusables. However, we list our partners on our site and do earned media promotions for our partners to drive traffic their way.

  • We are launching with beverage offerings through 2025. If you are interested in working with our beverage cup lines, either hot or cold, please reach out! We are putting together cohorts throughout the year and would love to serve you!

    We plan to expand into the food category to compliment beverage reusables in 2026. If you’re interested in reusables for to-go food, sign up for our newsletter and we will push the information out to you!

  • Not a problem! Partners either have inventory or cash on hand for the reusables. Our desire is that consumers bring these items back to stay in the loop, but we know that consumers will retain inventory for numerous reasons (hey, the cups are cute… we understand if consumers want to keep them). Reach out to us and let us know when you need more inventory and we can ship it out to you!

  • Our calculations have 150 reusable uses as the breakeven point beyond which you would see cost-savings. As such, we set the minimum order at 150 items to maximize cost savings and ensure best experience for our Partners.

    If you’re interested but 150 items feels high, please reach out - we’d love to work with you and see how we can still be a benefit to your store!

  • While we would love it if your location promoted the use of these cups, we understand that space restrictions are a consideration. In this case, let us know the quantity of reusables you want to send back and we will send the postage for you to send them back to Retrocycle. Once we get the items in hand, we will add a credit to your account for your next order.

  • Our delivery system is enabled by USPS, UPS, and FedEx (we determine which one is best based on your location). The other major player in the logistics system is the consumer, who picks up and drops off reusables in the local network. Once the reusables are dropped off after consumer use, your business is responsible for cleaning the inventory and adding it to your available inventory for use. The reusables are dishwasher safe in both residential and commercial settings.

  • All partner establishments pay a monthly subscription fee of $45. We have a minimum order of 150 units to ensure you can feel the cost benefits of hitting breakeven on the program over a month period. There are no terms to working with us, so feel free to cancel at any time. We will take the reusables back and send you any credits from your account.

  • Nope! The common point of sale software enables partner establishments to create “deposit” and “deposit return” buttons to gather statistical information and process the return without incurring a transaction fee. Easy, right?

  • Initially, our data management will be done via manual pull. This includes inventory data, sales data, and qualitative details from partner locations. As we grow, we will look for solutions that enable ease of use from partners and help simplify the data collection process.