Kayli Dale and Jacquie Hutchings, both chemical engineers, launched Friendlier in 2019 while studying at the University of Waterloo.
The company provides partner businesses - mainly restaurants, cafes and shops - with containers that include a QR code. “Brands were already looking for sustainable alternatives, but helped expedite the process and ensure it was top of mind for them,” she said. “The longer we keep a product in use, the lower footprint it has every time we use it,” she said, adding that recycling may curb the environmental impact of plastics, but that the huge energy costs of the recycling process remain an issue.
Dale says Friendlier now has more than 200 partner businesses across Ontario - including major players like Scotiabank and Loblaws - and that the company has already helped divert more than 400,000 plastic containers from landfills. Friendlier also serves smaller businesses, like Ottawa's Red Apron cafe, which says the company has washed and returned about 70,000 containers over the past year.
What did the labor and materials cost to do that work?
Insanity in action.👇
Phasing out single use plastic is a MYTH. I go to the grocery store where plastic bags are banned at the cash but you can double bag all your fruits & vegetables, so, I arrive home with 50 plastic bags of the kind that go straight to the garbage bin. JustinTrudeau s_guilbeault
Waste of time. Plastics inert, recyclable. Get good state of art incineration and problem vanishes. Rampant gluttonous consumption more of a problem as it is costly to families in these tight periods of inflation. Budget. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Incinerate rather than landfill.
Fuc Koff
They should be doing this overseas if they really want to make a difference. But alas, the cash grab is in Canada.