Targeting Zero Waste, BC Place Taps ShareWares to Slash Single-Use Plastics

BC Place, home venue for the Vancouver Whitecaps and the BC Lions, announced this month that it is “rolling out several new food and beverage innovations,” including launching Canada’s first stadium-wide reusable cup program.

All draft beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails are now being served in cups from ShareWares, shifting tens of thousands of cups per match from disposable to reusable, according to a statement from the iconic venue.

ShareWares aims to make reusable packaging borrowing services convenient and accessible by utilizing a platform that pairs technology with existing infrastructure to allow reusable cups and food containers to be bought, returned, tracked, and processed for resale.

“The Reusable Cup program is an important part of the BC Place journey to becoming Zero Waste Certified by 2026,” says Chris May, General Manager of BC Place.

Fans drop empties into the bins across the concourse, which are white with a pink dot to match the cups. From there, cups are collected and brought back to ShareWares’ local wash lab in Mount Pleasant, where they are sanitized before redistribution.

The stadium-wide launch follows a year-long pilot in BC Place’s premium lounge.

“As the largest gathering place in Western Canada, we recognize our responsibility and opportunity to lead in both our community and our industry,” said May.

Cody Irwin, founder of ShareWares, believes that having a “major cultural hub” like BC Place adopt sustainable practices “can shift societal norms.”

“When tens of thousands of fans experience reuse at once, it normalizes sustainable behavior far beyond the stadium,” posits Irwin, who serves his startup as chief executive officer.

A QR code on each connected cup also unlocks a new avenue for fan experiences. Gathering data for behaviour change research, the University of British Columbia’s Decision Insights for Business and Society will be running an “enter-to-win” contest that allows them to study how messaging, gamification, and rewards influence engagement and return rates to optimize future reuse programs.

Last year, ShareWares co-launched the National Wash Network alongside Earthware, Muuse, and Bopaq.