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    NEWS | RISING TOGETHER

    Our journey to net zero: reduce, reuse… Re:Dish!

    14 Sep 2023

    After receiving support from Barclays through the Unreasonable Impact program, Re:Dish has brought its reusable dishware program full circle to Barclays’ New York office cafeteria.

    14 Sep 2023

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    Could the simple act of washing dishes be revolutionary? When you scale the process at an organizational level and apply it to help eliminate single-use packaging, reduce waste and promote circularity, the answer could be yes.

    That’s the mission behind Re:Dish, a Brooklyn-based, growth-stage company that operates a turnkey, reusable dishware service for food service operations. Barclays’ New York office cafeteria is one of Re:Dish’s newest service locations.  As part of the bank’s ambition to become a net zero bank by 2050, Barclays has an ambition to achieve and maintain TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) zero waste certified projects across key sites by 2035.  Re:Dish will help Barclays on this goal by helping it remove hundreds of thousands of single use items a year from our waste stream.

    We’ve built the software and automation to bring large numbers of reusable items in, wash and sanitize them, and re-package them to be used again. It’s not complicated to wash a handful of food serviceware items, but handling large numbers of items efficiently, using methods that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve water, is complex, and that’s the expertise we bring.
    Caroline Vanderlip, Re:Dish Founder & CEO

    The dish on how it all works

    Re:Dish delivers containers, plates, and cups to food service operators, collects used containers and cups to clean and sanitize, and then returns them back for reuse.  Instead of requiring more materials and  resources for new containers and specialized cleaning equipment, customers tap into an existing network of fit-for-purpose dishware and washing services that can efficiently accommodate fluctuating demand.  With the DishTrack inventory and impact dashboard, Re:Dish users can track how much waste is reduced, supporting a customers’ Scope 3 emissions reporting, which accounts for emissions generated as a result of end of life disposals of general waste by varying means of disposal.  It also provides real-time avoided carbon emission and water saving estimates

    While many waste reduction efforts focus on managing waste through composting or recycling, Re:Dish is tackling the problem by reducing waste at the source. It’s unglamorous, says Vanderlip, but poised to make a large impact, especially when scaled.  Even after accounting for the environmental impact of collection and delivery, systematically reusing the containers results in fewer emissions and water use compared to manufacturing and disposing of thousands of new single use containers, according to Re:Dish’s third party life cycle assessment (LCA).

    “While we can all wash 10 dishes, washing 10,000 or 100,000 is a whole different story. That’s what Re:Dish is all about,” says Vanderlip. To that end, the company has developed customized processes, equipment, and software, and recently filed its first patent on a mechanical automation approach that automatically loads its commercial dishwashing machines to boost efficiency.

    An unreasonably good partnership

    It’s this simple yet innovative approach to the complex problem of waste reduction that made Re:Dish a perfect fit for the Unreasonable Impact Americas program, in which Vanderlip participated in 2022. Unreasonable Impact is a partnership established in 2016 between Barclays and Unreasonable Group.  After participating in the program, Re:Dish joined the Unreasonable Fellowship, an invite-only community for impact-focused entrepreneurs who gain access to some of the world’s most powerful investors and mentors to help scale their ventures. The experience was a game-changer, says Vanderlip.

    “Having a company as illustrious as Barclays support us and being part of a community of like-minded CEOs and advisors, was such an amazing opportunity, and one most young companies don’t get,” she explains. Vanderlip notes her connection with Alastair Blackwell, COO for Barclays Execution Services, Risk, Finance and Treasury, as a particular highlight of the Fellowship. “The ability to sit with Alastair and get his feedback and advice on Re:Dish — in a million years, I couldn't have put that together on my own,” she says.

    Helping power creative solutions for the planet by melding entrepreneurial spirit with refined corporate experience is the exact reason for Barclays’ Unreasonable Impact partnership.  “We first met Re:Dish on our 2022 Unreasonable Impact program, offering them access to resources and our powerful network across Barclays and beyond to help them rapidly scale. Less than a year on, I am delighted to see our colleagues using their reusable containers in our New York offices. Re:Dish is the latest Unreasonable Impact company to be used by Barclays to drive innovative solutions in our own operations, helping the bank on its own journey to net zero,” said Deborah Goldfarb, Barclays’ Global Head of Citizenship.

    Coming full circle: Empowered by Barclays and now powering sustainable solutions for Barclays

    The synergy comes full circle for Re:Dish with the launch at Barclays’ New York office. Re:Dish containers are offered to colleagues in the cafeteria with return bins stationed at multiple locations in the cafeteria and on each floor of the building.  

    Signage and a variety of communications explaining how the program works and its impact are also highly visible at Barclays, as education is a key component of the Re:Dish approach. Vanderlip believes bringing the idea of circularity into institutional environments is a great way to educate individuals. Every Re:Dish container has a QR code that colleagues can scan to see exactly how many times that specific unit has been reused and the resulting estimated positive environmental impact. This allows employees to take part in the circular economy and share their experiences and learnings with colleagues and beyond.

    “We are proud and excited to work with Re:Dish on reducing waste and emissions from our operations. It’s critical for Barclays, with our size and global reach, to partner with innovative companies like Re:Dish that help make our supply chain more sustainable. This program also enables our colleagues to directly participate in helping us achieve our ambition to achieve and maintain TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) zero waste certified projects across key sites by 2035,” said Alastair Blackwell, COO for Barclays Execution Services, Risk, and Finance.

    Reusable dishware will reduce the amount of waste Barclays produces and bring us closer to meeting our zero waste ambition. Re:Dish estimates that the program at 745 7th Avenue will remove over 250,000 single-use products from its waste stream in just one year. 

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    Rising Together

    Every day, there are stories about how people from across Barclays are tackling challenges big and small to improve society. Rising Together is about celebrating all we’re doing to rise above and help the world move forward.

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