The Carriageworks Farmers Market has introduced a new initiative to replace single-use coffee cups with a reusable circulation system across three major coffee vendors.
Vendors Single O, Reuben Hills, and Colombian Connection Coffee began serving all 8oz and 12oz hot drinks in the Huskee’s ‘Borrow’ cups as the primary service option.
The program is designed to simplify the transition to reusable containers for market visitors.
Customers can return used cups to ‘Borrow Bins’ located at either end of the market, which will be transported to a dedicated WashHub in St Peters for professional cleaning.
Approximately 1500 cups rotate through the system to be returned to vendors for reuse.
The initiative aims to divert thousands of single-use cups from landfills each market day. By making reuse the default setting rather than an ‘opt-in’ choice, the program removes the burden on customers to provide their own containers.
“What we’re doing at Carriageworks flips that entirely. Reuse becomes the default, and single-use becomes the exception. That’s the shift the industry needs,” said Saxon Wright, co-founder of Huskee.
Carriageworks Farmers Market creative director Mike McEnearney described the shift as a logical progression of the market’s focus on sustainability. Given the thousands of weekly visitors, the market serves as a practical testing ground for large-scale circular service models.
The Borrow system is now active and is currently seeking additional venues for expansion across Sydney and other regions.
