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Tag: Reusables

Lidl launches city-wide drinks packaging recycling scheme

Posted on by dishanth
Lidl launches city-wide drinks packaging recycling scheme

Shoppers will be able to deposit any single-use drinks packaging made from either PET plastic or aluminium, between 100ml and three litres in size. Barcodes must be attached and readable.

Collected packaging will be sent for recycling. Lidl is aiming to capture at least 10.5 tonnes of material every month.

The launch of the scheme is intended to go some way to preparing customers for Scotland’s nationwide deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks packaging, which was due to launch last August but was delayed until March 2024.

Further delays could yet be announced due to backlash from some retailers, plus the fact that a UK-wide DRS is not due to launch until early 2025 at the soonest.

DRS initiatives see a levy placed on beverages, which customers can only claim back after returning their used packaging to a certified collection point for recycling.

But Lidl has elected not to add a levy to its beverages at present. Instead, customers will receive a 5p reward for every bottle or can returned, with no limit on the amount that each person can claim. They can receive the rewards as either a voucher for money off their next shop, or as a donation to Lidl’s charity partner in Scotland, STV Children’s appeal. The appeal supports children in poverty with education, mental health care, social activities and necessities like food and clothing.

Lidl GB’s chief commercial officer Richard Bourns described the initiative as “a win-win for all”.

He said: “We’re on a mission to eliminate all unnecessary waste, and with over 95% of our own-brand packaging now recyclable, reusable, or refillable we’ve been making great progress. We know that Lidl shoppers share this passion, and we hope that utilising this infrastructure, which might otherwise have been left dormant, will help to make recycling their cans and bottles even more convenient for them.”

 

 

 

 

Source   edie

Danish City First To Test Return System For Reusable Coffee Cups

Posted on by dishanth
Danish City First To Test Return System For Reusable Coffee Cups

The Danish city of Aarhus launched a three-year trial program to curve down the number of disposable coffee cups where locals can use a deposit system for reusable takeaway packages.

Like in other Nordic and Central European countries, in Denmark deposit system where one receives back money one pays when purchasing a plastic bottles or cans is already in place

The project that focused on eliminating disposable cups trash is the result of a collaboration between the Municipality of Aarhus and the recycling company TOMRA which already provides other waste collection services to the city.

For a year and a half in 2022, the company All In On Green’s robotic arm SeaProtectorOne deployed in the water, collected over 100,000 disposable glasses from the city’s river Å – from which the city derived its name – demonstrating a huge level of plastic pollution in the city.

”Aarhus must be greener and more sustainable, and Aarhus must be a city where we have the courage to test new solutions.” said Nicolaj Bang, Aarhus’ councillor for technology and environment in a press release. “We use enormous amounts of takeaway packaging in Denmark, and consumption is increasing. Therefore, it really matters if we can make it easier for both consumers and businesses to choose a more sustainable alternative to disposable packaging,” he stated.

Aarhus is the second biggest city in Denmark, counting around 336,000 inhabitants – and potential disposable cup users. The trial has been set as voluntary, but so far already 44 cafés and bars in the center of the city got interested in the project – perhaps even some frequented by King Frederik X, when he used to study at the city’s university.

Initially, 40,000 cups in two designs will be produced and around 25 deposit machines will be established in the city so that citizens can return their cups, and cash back some Danish kroner. Geir Sæther, senior vice president for circular economy at TOMRA said the company expects ‘to be able to expand the system to other types of packaging in the near future’, so to facilitate the transition from single-use to reusable packaging.

The return fee for a reused cup is just over 70 dollar cents (DKK 5) , but it is not for the money that citizens should start returning their cups: ”Recycling saves the earth’s resources and our emission of CO2. More recycling means that there is less waste that ends up as rubbish in our city and our nature,” said Bang.

This is the first city in Denmark, and the world, to carry out such city experiments, although Copenhagen had previously trialed an experimental system where pizza containers, sushi trays and coffee cups should be able to be returned in the hip area of Kødbyen, situated in a central neighborhood. Currently, Danish startup Kleen hub is experimenting in the capital with its third-generation return system based on a single bank card tap.

TOMRA’s ceo Tove Andersen said in a press release that “Aarhus shows the way to one more sustainable future, and we hope that many more cities will be inspired to do the same,”.

Cities and regional authorities have so far acted upon consumer behaviors to decrease different kinds of pollution in their cities: “These policies are quietly working because local governments are addressing climate change with communities long-term together with other challenges that people care about, like healthy diets and supporting local businesses,” said Olivier de Schutter, co-chair of the sustainable food system expert team IPES-Food.

 

 

 

 

Source  Forbes

 

 

The Starbucks Plan to Minimize Waste

Posted on by dishanth
The Starbucks Plan to Minimize Waste

In 2022, Starbucks announced a company goal to reduce waste sent to landfills from stores and direct operations. The goal was to reduce waste by 50% by 2030. Part of Starbucks plan to minimize waste is to move away from single-use plastics and promote reusability to shift towards a circular economy. It is said that 40 percent of Starbucks’ annual packaging is attributed to disposable cups. Moreover, these cups account for 20 percent of its waste footprint.

The Starbucks plan to minimize waste focusses on reducing its environmental impact; the coffee company hopes to create a cultural movement towards reusables by giving customers easy access to personal or Starbucks-provided reusable to-go cups that can be used in their cafes, drive-thrus, and mobile order and pay.

The Starbucks plan to minimize waste includes several reusable programs to help achieve its goals. They have been testing these programs in phases since 2022. Their Borrow a Cup program allows customers to order their drink in a designated Starbucks reusable cup. The cups are designed to be returned to the stores after use, professionally cleaned, and then reused by other customers. This project is being tested in Seattle, Japan, Singapore, and London.

In 2022, Starbucks implemented 100% reusable operating models, eliminating single-use cups completely. They tested this in 12 stores in Seoul, which helped to divert more than 200,000 disposable cups from the landfill. In early 2023, Starbucks tested their 100% reusables operating models at stores at Arizona State University. They also implemented return bins across the campus near garbage and recycling bins to collect the borrowed cups.

The Personal Cups & For-Here-Ware initiative encourages customers to bring their own cups. Starbucks began testing this initiative at their experiential Greener Store in Shanghai. Furthermore, Starbucks has been developing ways to incentivize customers to bring their own cups. This includes offering free coffee or discounts to customers who bring their own cups. They’ve also partnered with the Ocean Conservancy to donate 1$ to the organization if customers bring in their clean, reusable cups. At their Arizona State University campus stores and cafes in O’ahu, Hawaii, they have started implementing washing stations so customers can have their cups cleaned before ordering their beverage.

Because disposable cups are still in circulation, Starbucks is looking at ways to make the cups more sustainable and out of better materials. They are working on doubling the hot cup recycled content and reducing the materials required to make the cup and liner. The paper used for their hot cups will be sustainably sourced and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Over $5 million has been invested to develop a more sustainable hot cup. By the end of 2023, Starbucks will have eliminated PFAS from all of their packaging. Starbucks has already switched from plastic straws to compostable ones in stores across the globe.

The Starbucks plan to minimize waste is still in the trial phases of its programs. It needs to address a few concerns, including the best ways to collect and wash the cups and especially to figure out the best ways to encourage bringing the reusable cups back and not simply throwing them away. Moreover, they need to figure out how to make the lids of their hot cups recyclable and compostable and to encourage people to throw the contents in the right places.

It is encouraging to see a big company like Starbucks working to reduce waste and be more environmentally friendly in the ways they do business. Hopefully, Starbucks’ plans to minimize waste will influence more coffee shops around the world tol follow suit and help us reduce plastic and disposable cups and promote reusable alternatives.

 

 

 

 

Source  Happy Eco News