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.”
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.
PepsiCo UK, Walkers parent company, is introducing cardboard boxes for its multi-packs of crisps in a bid to remove tonnes of plastic from its supply chain
PepsiCo UK has recently announced a £14mn investment in new sustainable food packaging innovations that will remove 250 tonnes of virgin plastic from its supply chain annually.
The outer plastic packaging on millions of Walkers 22 and 24 bag multipacks will be replaced with a new cardboard design which reduces the amount of virgin plastic the company uses.
“We are constantly exploring new scalable solutions and this investment marks an important step forward, delivering a huge reduction in virgin plastic across some of our best-selling ranges, while also helping to tackle our carbon footprint,” says Simon Devaney, Sustainable Packaging Director, PepsiCo UK & Ireland.
“Reducing virgin plastic across our supply chain is a key part of our commitment to creating a world where packaging never becomes waste.”
After a successful trial with Tesco, the new and improved multipack outer packaging will be on-shelves in all major supermarkets in the UK in the coming weeks.
Saving 250 tonnes of plastic from the supply chain
Alongside the new packaging design, PepsiCo has also invested in a new stretch film to wrap around its pallets before these are distributed to retailers.
This new film is produced using nanotechnology which puts tiny air bubbles into the film to reduce the amount of plastic used, while retaining the same strength and stretch needed to protect the crisps as they travel to stores across the country.
According to the company, the use of this new technology will lead to a 40% reduction in virgin plastic year on year, compared to the previous film. Reducing the amount of fossil-fuel based virgin plastic in the shrink wrap will also reduce the company’s annual carbon emissions by 465 tonnes.
The investment marks a major step towards PepsiCo’s goal of eliminating virgin fossil-based plastic from its crisp and snack bags across Europe by 2030.
In the UK, the company is also planning to trial new solutions, including packaging made from recycled plastic for its snack bags. This all forms part of PepsiCo Positive, the company’s health and sustainability transformation plan, which includes an ambition of reaching net zero emissions by 2040.
Fast food restaurants are big waste generators. However, the lack of viable sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic and the industry’s emphasis on cost and convenience means cheap, disposable foodware will be on their menus for some time yet.
Fast food chain KFC and Singapore-based sustainable foodware company TRIA are looking to disrupt the fast-food packaging industry with what they call the “world’s first” closed-loop single-use packaging pilot project.
In a six-month trial, one KFC restaurant in Singapore will switch its non-recyclable boxes, cups, and cutlery to those made from NEUTRIA, a rapidly degrading plant-based polyester developed by TRIA. The used packaging will be collected by TRIA and fed into their patented Bio24 digester, which turns it into compost within 24 hours.
Conventional plastic recycling faces many challenges in Singapore. Even if the food packaging is technically recyclable, segregating and cleaning it could potentially cost five times more than producing new packaging from scratch. Furthermore, most of the country’s plastic is incinerated. With little incentive to recycle or reduce plastic consumption, plastic waste is only expected to increase. Since 2017, plastic recycling rates have remained extremely low, usually hovering around 4 – 6 percent.
TRIA’s patented Bio24 digester, which can turn NEUTRIA packaging and food waste into compost within 24 hours. Image: Eco-Business
TRIA claims its product can remain relatively cost-competitive without compromising on sustainability. However, apart from ensuring the product’s economic viability, TRIA’s chief executive Ng Pei Kang says that sustainable foodware companies must give higher priority to their F&B partner’s operational needs if they are to make such packaging more widely accepted.
“I think it’s great that we are experimenting with [sustainable foodware like reusable cups], but we also need to empathise more with the food brands. How can KFC extend this to the 20,000 outlets they own without changing their operations? [With our model], they don’t need to hire more people or get new trash bins. If it’s not business as usual, it would be very tough [for restaurants to accept these new packaging products].” Ng said in an interview with Eco-Business.
During the pilot launch event at Shanaya Environmental Services on 21 June, KFC revealed that cost-competitiveness, design flexibility and operational resilience were some of the main factors which attracted them to TRIA’s product.
“Since 2017, we’ve been looking for new ways to reduce our use of non-recyclable packaging. We’ve previously considered edible spoons, but they could not meet our cost or operational requirements. However, TRIA was open to extensive redesigns and testing to ensure their product could withstand our daily operating needs and be collected and processed at an acceptable price point,” said Lynette Lim, general manager of KFC in an interview with Eco-Business.
The mashed potato/coleslaw cup, cutlery, pockets and mat made of NEUTRIA by TRIA for their 6-month pilot with KFC. Image: Eco-Business
Redesigning KFC’s mashed potato and coleslaw cup was particularly difficult for TRIA’s designers. Using the company’s plant-based material, the cup had to maintain its structural integrity when stacked, in addition to being heat and moisture-resistant. While it has yet to be tested in-store conditions, Lim cited this as an example of TRIA’s commitment to KFC’s operational standards.
For every tonne of NEUTRIA and food waste fed into the digester, TRIA claims that 200 – 300kg of compost can be produced. While the company has not yet secured an offtake agreement for its compost, it has signed memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with local rooftop farming company Comcrop, and Norwegian chemical and fertiliser company Yara International. Ng also highlighted how TRIA’s products and services can help these companies achieve their own business goals in a more profitable and sustainable way.
“Yara is looking to expand their regional presence here, and I think they are interested in our product because it could be a low-carbon source of fertiliser. In Europe, they have access to hydroponic power, which allows them to profitably produce low-carbon, green fertiliser. However, shipping this fertiliser to Asia is not realistic. That’s where we come in,” Ng explained.
Finished bags of compost made from NEUTRIA packaging and food waste. Image: Eco-Business.
In an upcoming bio-valorisation pilot, Yara hopes to produce bio-equivalent fertiliser from TRIA’s compost. Upon receiving TRIA’s product, Yara could theoretically adjust its nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus content to ensure that it is nutritionally equivalent to commercial fertilisers. Other than reducing costs, the closed-loop system allows the fertiliser to be traced, therefore building greater confidence in prospective buyers.
However, TRIA’s technology is not without drawbacks. The composting system hinges on TRIA’s ability to take ownership of and reprocess its post-consumer waste. Singapore is planning to introduce an extended producer responsibility (EPR) law for packaging by 2025, which could reduce public expenditure and the amount of waste sent to landfills. Nevertheless, Professor Seeram Ramakrishna, a mechanical engineering professor and chair of the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Circular Economy Taskforce pointed out that achieving EPR has its difficulties.
What is extended producer responsibility (EPR)?
EPR is a policy approach where producers are given significant financial and/or physical responsibility for the treatment and disposal of post-consumer products.
“For EPR to work effectively, the presence of good waste management systems must be in place, including infrastructure to reprocess the waste. There should be a high level of compliance and enforcement,” explained Ramakrishna.
While Ng is confident TRIA can handle KFC’s in-store waste, he admitted that a system for managing takeaway waste remains elusive for now.
“Takeaway waste will still be sent to the public waste management system. However, the majority of packaging is used for dine-in purposes, and that’s where we are able to help,” Ng said.
In a previous interview with Eco-Business, Ng also professed that sourcing top talent for the sustainable food packaging industry remains a challenge. Furthermore, the hygiene and economic concerns of the pandemic have slowed the appetite for innovative new technologies like TRIA’s, he said. However, he stated that a partnership with one of the world’s most recognisable brands was an important step towards a circular packaging economy.
