Pitt Eats has expanded its partnership with USEFULL, bringing the plastic-free reusable container program to more to-go dining options at the University of Pittsburgh.
Students can check out USEFULL containers with select orders at the William Pitt Union and Forbes St. Market. The expansion continues Pitt’s campus-wide effort to reduce single-use waste and make sustainable dining options more convenient.
At the William Pitt Union, containers are available for to-go orders from True Burger, Ft. Pitt Subs, CrEATe and PA Taco. At Forbes St. Market, students can select USEFULL containers for items from the deli case and soup station.
The expansion builds on Pitt’s launch of USEFULL in residential dining halls, where stainless steel food containers and tumblers replaced disposable takeout packaging at locations such as The Eatery and The Perch. Pitt Eats later extended the program into campus coffee service, offering hot and cold beverages in lightweight, double-walled stainless-steel cups at high-traffic retail coffee locations.
Since the program launched in January 2025, students have checked out more than 22,000 containers. USEFULL estimates those checkouts have saved an average of 2,200 pounds of trash, 64,000 gallons of water and 7,200 pounds of emissions. The stainless steel containers are designed to be durable, easy to track and convenient to return.
John Longo, vice president of operations for Pitt Eats, noted that the expansion aligns with student demand for eco-friendly choices.
“We had the opportunity to move another step closer to becoming a plastic-free operation for our Pitt community,” Longo said. “The USEFULL containers help us remove more plastic from our operation, all while giving our students something they’ve been asking for: a sustainable way to take food on the go.”
Each USEFULL container features a QR code scanned at checkout and connected to a dedicated mobile application. The app sends reminders to students when containers are due back.
Operating like a library system, users return containers within a set timeframe to help Pitt Eats recover reusables efficiently and keep the program working smoothly across campus.
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