Over thirty million tons of packaging waste ends up in landfills each year, much of which is attributable to food and beverage consumption. While Europe has long adopted bulk grocery concepts like “granels” in Spain that leverage reusable containers, the US has lagged behind in favor of convenience. Over the past few years, coastal cities like LA and NYC have seen a handful of similar grocery concepts pop up that focus exclusively on reducing waste alongside a smattering of startups like Dispatch Goods and DeliverZero tackling the restaurant delivery space. Prior to the pandemic, former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio set a goal for the city to achieve “zero waste” by 2030, an initiative that was put on hold amidst program cuts during the pandemic and LA’s County Board of Supervisors drafted a similar plan in September 2022 to divert 95% of landfill waste by 2045. In April of this year, NYC began drafting a proposal to mandate fast-casual restaurants with 10 or more locations to use reusable packaging at their stores. Meanwhile, back in LA, package-free grocery store re_ grocery has steadily grown to three locations since the beginning of the pandemic. The concept stocks over 500 refillable bulk foods and household consumables sourced from organic, non-GMO sources.