Taking food or drink to-go? Return the packaging! Reuse as a solution to plastic pollution © OCEANA / Naja Andersen
Best practice and policy recommendations for a plastic-free future for take-away vendors and large events WHY ARE SINGLE-USE PLASTIC FOOD CASES: REUSE SYSTEMS FOR TAKE-AWAY FOOD AND DRINK AND BEVERAGE CONTAINERS A PROBLEM? Among the most apparent alternatives for single-use plastics are reusable to-go coffee cups Almost
half of all
human-made waste in the world’s oceans is plastic packaging from take-away food and beverages.1
and food boxes. However, take-away reuse systems can in principle include everything from yoghurt cups to pizza boxes. Existing experience shows that, among other things, local authorities can help drive the development of local reuse solutions for take-aways.
Cities are initiating reuse systems for take-away coffee and food boxes: Freiburg and Bern Freiburgkoppen v. 2.0: In Freiburg, Germany, the municipal
Disposable containers and packaging for takeaway food and drink are also among the most commonly found plastics in Danish nature.2 In Denmark, around 300 million single-use plastic cups and 150 million single-use plastic food boxes are used every year. 3 The number of disposable coffee cups alone is estimated at 130 million annually.4 A significant percentage of these single-use plastics is used in connection with the sale of food and drinks by take-away providers and for large events such as festivals, sports matches, and concerts. They are thrown away after a short period of use, creating large amounts of waste, as well as litter in nature and the marine environment.
government has driven the development of a reuse system for coffee cups. The project started in 2016 as a response to increasing amounts of waste from disposable cups in the city. With a municipal investment in cups and a deposit system, the Freiburg cup has been distributed to over 130 cafés in the city with 130,000 reusable cups in circulation. In 2021, the system entered a new phase. The municipality of Freiburg decided that the system will be extended to include a reuse solution for food, while also covering an even larger part of the city’s market. The city has therefore partnered with a commercial provider (ReCup) to handle the task. The choice of the provider has been made in cooperation with the city’s restaurant industry. The municipality provides economic support for the establishment of the new system among the city’s cafés.6
... AND WHY IS REUSE A SOLUTION?
Bern & Recircle: In the Swiss city of Bern, a municipally launched reuse campaign became the basis for the establishment of the reuse system and company Recircle, which today serves around 1,800 restaurants and cafés in Switzerland and Germany with their reusable take-away solution. Cafés and take-away restaurants can subscribe to the Recircle system and be provided with reusable lunch boxes and coffee cups, which they can offer their customers. Customers pay a CHF 10 deposit to borrow a container and can then keep it for as long as they wish or return it to a Recircle partner (café / restaurant) to get the deposit back. Several cities and regions in Switzerland have actively supported the spread of the system.7
But it is not a given that single-use containers should be used for take-away services and large events. There is an alternative: re-usable cups, food boxes, and plates that can be returned, cleaned, and used again hundreds - or even thousands - of times. Closed reuse systems, such as deposit return systems, reduce the dependence on single-use plastic and are one of the most effective tools to prevent plastic from ending up in nature, especially in the marine environment. 2 This eliminates plastic pollution at the source.
ReCup: https://recup.de
Recircle: https://www.recircle.ch/en/ 1