No more hamburger in a cardboard box or soft drink in a paper cup: as of January 1, disposable tableware for table service will be prohibited in all restaurants. In fact, it is especially fast food that is forced to change its habits: from McDonald’s to KFC through Burger King or Subway, all the big brands will have to comply.
Hard to imagine when you eat there today – cardboard, paper and plastic are still piling up on the trays and in the bins a few weeks before the cut-off date.
In fast food restaurants, tableware will now be reusable: cups, lids, plates, cutlery and other containers will have to be collected and washed after being served to customers who consume on the spot, under the anti-waste law approved in January 2020 Only paper that wraps the sandwich (and prevents it from falling apart when eaten) is allowed. According to the Ministry for Ecological Transition, fast food generates 180,000 tons of packaging that is thrown away immediately after use.
“A Change of Habit”
In order not to disturb the consumer, the plates and glasses will be labeled with the colors of the brands, as will the disposable containers. The giant McDonald’s had tested its reusable tableware in a dozen restaurants last year and has already deployed it in a large number of restaurants. Its big competitor Burger King claims to be ready by the January 1 deadline: Some restaurants are starting to use the new reusable plates now, others will wait until D-Day, but all will be equipped with them by then, the company says. .
Clinging to his habits, the client may run the risk of throwing his entire tray in the trash when he gets up from the table. Burger King, which opted for resin packaging, had fitted all of its tableware with RFID chips in a test restaurant. The objective was to estimate the proportion of containers thrown away or that disappeared instead of going back to the sink. The number “was quite high at first, then it went down over time,” reports Muriel Reyss, director of communication and CSR at Burger King France.
Big Fernand has wanted to take the cursor a little further: the French hamburger chain has decided to remove the paper around the sandwiches in favor of a plated dressing, like in a classic restaurant. “The difference between fast food and traditional restaurants will become more and more blurred”, predicts Maurizio Biondi, in charge of the poster. The brand offers slightly more expensive hamburgers than its competitors, around 17 or 18 euros, and the presentation on the plate “changes the quality perceived by the consumer,” he says.
For an industry that was built on disposable tableware, this is a heavy conversion. In many restaurants it was necessary to push the walls to install the necessary equipment for washing and storing the new containers, adapted to the large volumes of fast food chains. These are also significant investments to purchase these containers and equipment, and additional work time for employees. In the absence of dishwashers, some establishments may also use third-party service providers, as the hotel industry does with linens.
Canteens, cafes, cafeterias
The application of the measure is not necessarily obvious. Domino’s Pizza, focused on delivery, has a few restaurants where you can eat pizzas on site. The company is currently working on an alternative to the dish, but “we won’t be able to implement it” in the coming months, explains Joël Tissier, president of Domino’s Pizza France. Instead, the leader insists on the company’s work around overpacking in the supply chain, the “submerged part of the iceberg” in pizza delivery.
At Starbucks, we claim to be online by January 1, and we already offer to serve drinks in ceramic mugs on the spot. Because hamburgers and pizzas are not the only ones concerned: there are also chains of cafeterias, canteens, cafeterias in museums and supermarkets or even sandwich chains, that is, all catering establishments with more than twenty seats. Small establishments evade the ban, which is difficult for many of them to apply. The small local kebab, for example, will pass through the drops.
Controls and sanctions
Starting next year, inspectors from the Regional Environment, Planning and Housing Directorates (Dreal) and from the DGCCRF will carry out controls. In case of non-compliance with the ban, the ministry evokes fifth-class fines and daily penalties for the most recalcitrant restaurants. However, he hopes to avoid such measures, relying instead on the bad publicity the newcomer risks, especially since his competitors will not hesitate to let him know.
Who will be really ready? Answer next January. The ministry, in any case, closes the door to a possible postponement of the entry into force of the measure.
Source: BFM TV
