87663Innovative Deposit Return Scheme and reusable HipCup system to improve sustainability and resilience in venues and clubs in the UKClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKECODISCO has created a new reusable cup scheme for venues and clubs to support the sustainable recovery of the night-life economy. The night-life economy contributes 6% to the GDP of the UK economy annually, yet very little has been done to reduce the industry's environmental impacts and improve its unnecessary appetite for waste. On average, 85m people attend live events in the UK annually and this results in over 100 million single-use plastic cups being wasted With the support of IUK, ECODISCO will create HipCup. HipCup is a reusable cup with low embedded energy, which will last a minimum of 300 washes. It is designed for the unique challenges of venues: usability and durability. Consumers can attach their cup to their belt, clothes or bag to keep safe before returning it to the bar to swap in for a clean replacement for their next beverage. HipCup will also design and test a DRS/levy scheme for reusable cups. ECODISCO will supply, collect, clean and return reusable cups weighted to the capacity of the venue. This overcomes the pain points of storing, cleaning and drying reusable cups in-venue. ECODISCO removes all of the effort to transition to reusable cups, which frequently drive venues to use single-use plastic cups. This project incorporates a real-world pilot with Central London venues. As the night-life economy recovers from COVID-19, ECODISCO will be a proponent of building back the industry with a pain-free and low-costs sustainable solution to reduce waste. Acting now prevents a 'back to business' attitude that prolongs unsustainable, wasteful behaviours.