City to Sea, a plastic pollution campaign organisation, is encouraging businesses to take a stand on single-use plastic and #ReturntoRefill ahead of the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions today (12 April).
The organisation has put together resources for coffee shops and businesses in the food industry providing guidance on how to remain Covid-safe as well as environmentally friendly.
City to Sea provides video examples and guidelines for businesses taking water refills in reusable bottles, reusable coffee cup refills and food packaging refills.
Further to this, City to Sea have also provided a roadmap for takeaways and the food-to-go sector on how to cut down on single-use plastic items.
Following the first national lockdown, high street coffee chains such as Pret a Manger, Costa Coffee and Starbucks backed the City to Sea #ContactlessCoffee campaign to cut on single-use coffee cups.
Jo Morley, City to Sea’s Campaigns Marketing and Campaigns Manager, commented: “This summer we need food outlets to make sure they put reusables back on the menu.
“While some have already started accepting reusable again, others have been slower to get on board and enable their customers to have a choice when it comes to ditching single-use plastic.
“If we want to avoid scenes like we saw last weekend, with our parks covered in mountains of plastic and packaging, we need businesses to be encouraging customers to use reusables and following our simple guidance.
“If you’re heading out to meet friends and family for the first time, we can all take simple steps to keep ourselves and our planet safe.
“This means picking up your reusable facemask, water bottle or coffee cup and popping them in your bag – ready to refill on the go using the free Refill app.
“Our small actions can have a big impact - if just 1 in 10 Brits refilled a water bottle just once a week around 340 million plastic bottles a year would be saved!
“Before the pandemic, most of us were in the habit of carrying our reusable bottle and we need to make sure we haven’t slipped back to reaching for the single-use plastic.”
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
There's no easy solution to include glass in the DRS while maintaining a level playing field. Potential approaches include a phased introduction of glass, potentially with higher deposits to reflect its logistical challenges. The government and DMOs could incentivise innovation in glass packaging design and subsidise dedicated return points for glass-handling. Exemptions for smaller businesses unable to handle glass might also be necessary. Any successful solution will likely blend several approaches. It must address the differing priorities of devolved administrations, balance environmental benefits with logistical and cost implications, and be supported by robust consumer education campaigns emphasizing the importance of glass recycling.