Disposable plastic cups are rampant but there is no way to recycle them

Disposable plastic cups are rampant but there is no way to recycle them

Less than 1% of consumers bring their own cup to buy coffee

Not long ago, more than 20 beverage companies in Beijing launched the “Bring Your Own Cup Action” initiative. Consumers who bring their own reusable cups to buy coffee, milk tea, etc. can enjoy a discount of 2 to 5 yuan. However, there are not many responders to such environmental protection initiatives. In some well-known coffee shops, the number of consumers who bring their own cups is even less than 1%.

The reporter’s investigation found that most of the disposable plastic cups commonly used in the market are made of non-degradable materials. While consumption continues to increase, the end-of-line recycling system has not kept up.

It is difficult for consumers to find their own cups in coffee shops

Recently, the reporter came to the Starbucks coffee in Yizhuang Hanzu Plaza. During the two hours that the reporter stayed, a total of 42 drinks were sold in this store, and not a single customer used their own cup.

At Starbucks, consumers who bring their own cups can get a 4 yuan discount. According to the Beijing Coffee Industry Association, more than 1,100 stores of 21 beverage companies in Beijing have launched similar promotions, but only a limited number of consumers have responded.

“From January to July this year, the number of orders for bring-your-own cups in our Beijing store was only more than 6,000, accounting for less than 1%.” Yang Ailian, community manager of the operations department of Pacific Coffee Beijing Company, told reporters. Take the store opened in an office building in Guomao as an example. There are already many customers who bring their own cups, but the sales ratio is only 2%.

This situation is more obvious in Dongsi Self Coffee Shop, where most tourists are. “Not one of the 100 customers every day may bring his or her own cup.” The person in charge of the store was a little regretful: the profit of a cup of coffee is not high, and a few yuan discount is already a great deal, but it still failed to attract more people. let’s move. Entoto Cafe has a similar problem. In the two months since the promotion was launched, there have been only about 10 orders for bring-your-own cups.

Why are consumers reluctant to bring their own cups? “When I go shopping and buy a cup of coffee, do I put a water bottle in my bag?” Ms. Xu, a citizen who buys coffee almost every time she goes shopping, feels that although there are discounts, it is inconvenient to bring your own cup. This is also the common reason why many consumers give up bringing their own cups. In addition, consumers increasingly rely on takeout or online orders for coffee and milk tea, which also makes it difficult to form the habit of bringing your own cup.

Merchants don’t like to use reusable cups in order to save trouble.

If disposable plastic cups are for portability, are businesses more inclined to provide reusable glass or porcelain cups to customers who come to the store?

At around 1 o’clock at noon, many customers taking an afternoon break gathered at Raffles MANNER Coffee Shop in Dongzhimen. The reporter noticed that none of the 41 customers drinking in the store used reusable cups. The clerk explained that the store does not provide glass or porcelain cups, but only disposable plastic or paper cups.

Although there are porcelain cups and glass cups in the Pi Ye Coffee Shop on Chang Ying Tin Street, they are mainly provided to customers who buy hot drinks. Most of the cold drinks use disposable plastic cups. As a result, only 9 of the 39 customers in the store use reusable cups.

Merchants do this mainly for convenience. A person in charge of a coffee shop explained that glass and porcelain cups need to be cleaned, which wastes time and manpower. Customers are also picky about cleanliness. For stores that sell coffee in large quantities every day, disposable plastic cups are more convenient.

There are also some beverage shops where the “bring your own cup” option is in vain. The reporter saw at Luckin Coffee on Changyingtian Street that since all orders are made online, the clerks use plastic cups to serve coffee. When the reporter asked whether he could use his own cup to hold coffee, the clerk responded “yes”, but he still needed to use a disposable plastic cup first and then pour it into the customer’s own cup. The same situation also happened at the KFC East Fourth Street store.

According to the “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments in 2020 and the “Plastic Restriction Order” in Beijing and other places, the use of non-degradable disposable plastic tableware is prohibited in catering services in built-up areas and scenic spots. However, there is no further clarity on how to ban and replace non-degradable disposable plastic cups used in beverage shops.

“Businesses find it convenient and cheap, so they rely on disposable plastic products.” Zhou Jinfeng, vice chairman of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, suggested that strict regulations on the use of disposable plastic products by businesses should be strengthened at the implementation level. constraint.

There is no way to recycle disposable plastic cups

Where do these disposable plastic cups end up? The reporter visited a number of waste recycling stations and found that no one was recycling disposable plastic cups that had been used to hold drinks.

“Disposable plastic cups are contaminated with drink residues and need to be cleaned, and the recycling cost is high; plastic cups are light and thin and have low value.” Mao Da, an expert in the field of garbage classification, said that the value of recycling and reusing such disposable plastic cups is unclear .

The reporter learned that most of the disposable plastic cups currently used in beverage stores are made of non-degradable PET material, which has a large negative impact on the environment. “It is very difficult for this kind of cup to degrade naturally. It will be landfilled like other garbage, causing long-term damage to the soil.” Zhou Jinfeng said that plastic particles will also enter rivers and oceans, causing great harm to birds and marine life.

Faced with the exponential growth in plastic cup consumption, source reduction is a top priority. Chen Yuan, a researcher at Tsinghua University and the Basel Convention Asia-Pacific Regional Center, introduced that some countries have implemented a “deposit system” for plastic recycling. Consumers need to pay a deposit to the seller when buying drinks, and the seller also needs to pay a deposit to the manufacturer, which is returned after use. The cups are redeemable for a deposit, which not only clarifies the recycling channels, but also encourages consumers and businesses to use recyclable cups.