In this year-end special, we rewind through an eventful 2025—the year that Reloop turned ten and The Reloop Brief began. Host, Barry Snedden revisits standout moments from the season: activist Merijn “Plastic Soup Surfer” Tinga live from his paddleboard; Jackie Núñez on moving beyond “straws” to system change; Reloop CEO Clarissa Morawski on hard data proving deposits cut beverage litter; Data & Dashboard Manager Jason Wilcox on turning evidence into action with “What We Waste” and the "Global Deposit Dashboard", as well as Reloop Pacific’s Rob Kelman on Australia becoming the first continent fully covered by deposit systems—and what it takes to keep return rates high.

From grassroots sparks to policy implementation, the episode threads one story: credible data + citizen pressure + informed policy = circular outcomes.

In this episode, Barry Snedden takes us behind the scenes with Jason Wilcox, Reloop’s Data & Dashboard Manager, to see how evidence turns into action. Jason explains the goals of Reloop's two live dashboards — What We Waste and the Global Deposit Dashboard. They discuss the work that goes into building these interactive tools: consolidating disparate spreadsheets, analysing from a “bird’s-eye view” to reveal patterns, and then using simple visuals to tell a clear story, backed by transparent, clickable sources for each data point. Jason also provides a sneak peek at his next build, aiming to quantify which policies most effectively cut litter.

Spain is on the cusp of introducing a national deposit return system for beverage containers by 2026. In this episode, Barry Snedden sits down with Miquel Roset, Director of Retorna, to discuss what must happen next to deliver the DRS on time. They also touch on Portugal’s newly announced DRS start date and why Iberian momentum matters, Retorna’s work co-founding the Global DRS Platform to support deposits across the Global South, and a preview of Madrid’s upcoming Global Conference of Experts - a first-rate gathering of system operators, NGOs, governments and industry to swap lessons and discuss best practice.