The city of Aarhus in Denmark is testing the deposit for coffee cups. 25 machines have been installed in the city to combat the accumulation of this waste in the streets.
It’s a problem that cafes around the world are experiencing: the hundreds of single-use cups, used daily for takeaway drinks, which end up in the trash or on the street.
The authorities in Aarhus, Denmark, are therefore testing a new collection system for this waste. Now, customers pay for a resealable cup for 70 cents… Once the drink is consumed, they hand it over to a machine which gives them back the money in exchange.
“We all want to have an impact on the amount of waste lying around and especially us coffee shops. You know we are guilty and walking down the street I see some of our cups lying around, I see other cups of coffee takeaways lying around” comments Joe Hougaard, General Manager of La Cabra café.
Once collected, the cups are washed and reused. If this experiment meets the hoped-for success, it will be extended to disposable plates, pizza boxes and other containers.
“We need to scale this up in order to make it a financially viable solution. Because reuse costs, as is currently the case, more expensive than single use. This is why we are simulating a future in which there is a legislation that helps the development of reuse” explains Simon Rossau, project manager at Aarhus Municipality.
Around 25 machines have been installed in Aarhus. The concept, which operates on a voluntary basis, is based on the deposit system for cans and bottles, in force across the country since 2002.
