Tritan cups, reusable containers… Fast food restaurants are preparing to abandon disposable tableware


McDonald’s will introduce red recycled plastic containers, tritan cups and reusable cutlery in its restaurants. Fiora Garenzi/Hans Lucas

Fast food brands must adapt from 2023 to comply with the Agec law. So what will a meal tray look like next year?

No more traditional boxed burgers or paper cups, make way for reusable packaging. From 1er January 2023, fast food chains will have to comply and eliminate single-use tableware, even if it is made of cardboard. Only deviation allowed: the paper that surrounds the sandwich, to prevent it from falling apart. This directive comes from the Agec law (anti-waste for a circular economy) adopted in February 2020. This concerns restaurants with more than twenty covers for meals taken on site.

A few weeks before the deadline, the brands are working to change their habits. And it’s time. According to Ademe, fast food produces 220,000 tonnes of disposable packaging each year. In its 1,500 restaurants in France, McDonald’s will deploy red recycled plastic containers, tritan cups (a brand of polyester) and reusable cutlery. They will be brought back by customers and cleaned directly by a dishwashing service. This new organization, tested since last spring in certain restaurants, will be effective by the end of the year throughout the network. “The investments of the brand and its franchisees exceeded 100 million euros to deploy this solutionsays McDonald’s. On Twitter, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed the “changes at work to change our consumption patterns and reduce our waste“.

For its part, McDonald’s main competitor, Burger King, will deploy “its new reusable tableware in January 2023“. This will allow “on average, to avoid nearly 1.9 tonnes of waste per year and per restaurant“. Since October, Burger King has been accelerating its construction sites “with up to 40 infrastructures under construction per week, to adapt the dives, and sometimes push back the walls“. New signage will also be displayed so that customers bring back the containers and do not throw them away. A task far from obvious. In a test carried out several months ago in one of its restaurants, “the share of dishes that disappeared was quite high at first but this share decreases after an approximate period of two monthssays Burger King.

Burger King will deployits new reusable tableware in January 2023“. Burger King

At Subway, 95% of the containers changed will be cups, which will be reusable. Indeed, the brand does not use cardboard packaging. “Boxes for salads and snacks will be replaced by reusable plastic plates, resistant to cleaningcompletes the group, andreusable cutlery will also be made available to consumers“. If Subway does not yet unveil the new packaging, the brand assures that “everything is being done to achieve effective deployment at the end of December 2022“. The group also seeks to promote selective sorting with “new bin displaysin its 400 French restaurants.

“The circle must be virtuous”

For Domino’s Pizza, the directive will only affect very few of its stores because the group relies more on delivery and take-out than on meals on site. For the few restaurants concerned, the group is considering replacing its pizza boxes with plates. “But we must take into account all the elements, in particular the consumption of water and detergent to wash these reusable dishes, so that the circle is virtuous until the end.“, details the CEO of Domino’s Pizza, Joël Tissier. He adds that the first stores will be equipped “by the second quarter of 2023“.

In order to ensure that these measures are put in place, checks will be carried out next year by inspectors from the regional directorates for the environment, planning and housing (Dreal) and the DGCCRF. According to information from BFM TVthe Ministry of Ecological Transition will introduce fifth-class fines and daily penalties for the most recalcitrant restaurants.

SEE ALSO – Le Figaro Etudiant goes green – How to adopt an eco-responsible diet?



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