Circular economy manufacturer launches campaign to reshore cup production

InDaily reports that eCup was preparing to have its digitally-linked cups made in China late-last year, with a cost for $15,000 to make a mould for these. The summer bushfires and pandemic prompted a rethink, however, with a drop in the Australian dollar and the need to create local jobs coming into play. The mould was $160,000 at the time, said founder John Maule, who is now attempting to raise $122,000 to support local production.

“There’s two means to eCup: One is to buy and one is to hire. So you can buy a cup at the venue or you can hire it for an event – if you hire it for an event you create a circular economy,” Maule told InDaily of the product.

“Once we pick it up from you we take it back to the warehouse, we put it back in the washer, it’s sanitised and untouched by hand and it goes back into a plastic sleeve into the box. So it’s stored and never reaches landfill.”

The company plans to offer two different style of cup, both with scan-enabled labelling which can direct a user to a website with promotional material.

Maule’s campaign can be seen here.

Picture: The Mary-Lou wine/spirits/mixed drink cup, one of the two varieties (source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ecup-reusable/ecup-reusable-stadium-event-cups-and-systems)

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