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At an event organized in Bucharest by one of the largest whisky producers, Johnny Walker, I was pleasantly surprised to find that single-use plastic or cardboard cups were not being used. The approximately 1,000 party-goers were drinking from reusable cups, which had been previously used at 30 similar events over the past two years.
The company that distributes the alcoholic beverage brand in Romania, PPD Global, embraced the idea of using such cups at events, initially as a pilot project, due to a desire to give up plastic, and then for financial and image reasons.
Cristina Despa, the company's representative, says: "We found this alternative to be very efficient from a financial point of view, and it also offers a much more pleasant experience for consumers compared to the cardboard cups that already exist at all events of this type."
The system is called the Reusable Cup with Deposit System, similar to the DRS (Deposit Return System) that we are already familiar with, and has been operating in Western Europe for over ten years. Essentially, for the first order, customers pay a deposit of 10 lei. For the next order, they exchange the used cup for a new one. And at the end, they return the cup and get their deposit back. Or they can go home with the cup and lose the deposit.
The system is implemented by a start-up based in Brașov, ZĂ KUP. There is also a warehouse and a sanitization facility there, where the dirty cups ultimately end up after the party.
I challenged the founder of the start-up, Alexandru Boncu, with two questions:
1. Carbon footprint. By transporting these cups between cities, isn't the carbon footprint somehow larger? We reduce the amount of single-use plastic, but don't we risk actually increasing the footprint of the company that uses such a system?
2. Plastic in the product. We want to get rid of single-use plastic, but why don't we replace it with glass or aluminum? Why do we still resort to plastic?
And here are his answers:
"There is still a carbon footprint, but not as large as that of throwing away single-use plastic, because, let's be serious, after every event, plastic ends up in the trash, in household waste, it doesn't get recycled, right? The same goes for cardboard with plastic film, because you can't separate the plastic film from the cardboard."
European data supports his statements. In Romania, only 11% of municipal waste is recycled, compared to the EU average of 48%.
And regarding the complete abandonment of plastic, Alexandru Boncu says that in certain industries, such as events, it is simply not possible.
"In events... What is a very important factor? The safety of the artist and consumers, right? It is not a consumer safety measure to have stainless steel containers, for example, at a concert, which they might throw, or at a stadium where they might throw them onto the field and injure someone else.
If we talk about polypropylene, what our cups are made from, it is somehow the second most sustainable product after stainless steel, having a lot of reuses. Our cups can be reused 500 times or more."
Studies in the field confirm that for events attended by tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, where stainless steel or glass cannot be used, the reusable plastic cup option is still more ecological than the "single-use" option.
Unexpected Advantages
The whisky producer who chose reusable cups has saved 120,000 single-use cups so far. This has meant reduced costs for both them and the company that organizes their events, Cyclic. The owner of the company, Ionuț Hupcă, admits that by implementing the system, he simply took the problem of waste off his hands:
"For us, it was more important that events no longer generated so much mess. Even at high-standing events, at tables, people would leave their cups everywhere. And so piles of garbage would form during the event. And we had to have many people clearing up, always with dustpans and brooms throughout the event. I also had a reduction in cleaning staff, but more than that, I would say it improved aesthetics and customer comfort."
The Reusable Cup with Deposit System can be applied throughout the HORECA industry. According to Ordinance 6/2021, any merchant, bar, or café that sells single-use plastic cups is obligated to offer the consumer a reusable alternative. But how many are already doing this?
And the rules in the packaging sector will become increasingly strict, as Luminița Roșca, General Manager of Stratos, an environmental consultancy firm, explains to us:
"This year, the new packaging directive will also appear. Which will, of course, toughen the current requirements, in the sense that all packaging must be recyclable. A minimum, not only for plastic, but also for other materials, a minimum percentage of recycled material, recycled waste, contained in the new product, in the new packaging.
There are many such requirements, and I think they need to be addressed in good time, with attention, to all these new demands. Especially since the tendency is for directives to become regulations, and then if it becomes a regulation, a regulation must be applied in every member state of the European Union. So we no longer have transposition in 2 years, in 3 years, we no longer have that much flexibility."
A study conducted by Stratos and Eco Synergy shows that only 10% of Romanian companies have invested in eco-design for the packaging of the products they sell so far, although ecological design is the most important pillar of the circular economy.
Precisely because there is this need for education, for understanding the urgency of the transition, Asociația Soluții Sustenabile, with the support of Stratos and Eco Synergy, launched the video report campaign "A Second Life. Models of Circular Economy," to show, concretely, how to make the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy and to inspire others.
This is episode 3 of the campaign, dedicated to the Packaging sector.
Here you can watch episode 1 about Waste: From waste to raw material, through innovation
And here you can see episode 2, dedicated to Construction: Profit from rubble
