In France, since January 1, fast food establishments are prohibited from offering disposable packaging to their customers. From now on, everything that is consumed on site must be served in reusable containers.
For the highly polluting French fast food sector, which generates 180,000 tonnes of waste each year, the anti-waste law that came into force in 2023 is a revolution. Only washable and reusable dishes are now allowed on the tables. No more cardboard trays for fries or cups for drinks that end up in the trash. Only hamburgers can remain wrapped in paper for hygienic reasons.
To adapt, the brands have invested a lot, explained Tuesday in La Matinale Christine Demen-Meier, co-responsible for the Food ecosystem institute at the HEG in Fribourg.
“Fast food companies have anticipated everything that is operational, but they have to completely restructure their production premises since it is necessary to integrate a washing and drying machine, or even have storage places for this crockery. For each point of sale, it will be necessary to hire between 3 and 4 additional employees. The investment per point of sale amounts to several tens of thousands of euros”, she analyzes.
>> Listen to his interview in La Matinale:
Despite the obligation, not all brands have yet taken this turn. Thus, in Paris, in a restaurant of a well-known chain, “there was no reusable dishes, we had the cardboard as usual”, noted young regulars.
>> Listen to the report by Joëlle Meskens in Paris:
Situation in Switzerland
In Switzerland, at McDonald’s, there is almost no more plastic: 95% of the packaging is made of disposable paper or cardboard. Only the cups are reusable, indicates the sign.
In 2020, the Greens asked Parliament to make sustainable tableware mandatory in takeaway restaurants, but the motion was defeated. However, the Geneva Green National Councilor Delphine Klopfenstein does not despair of getting there.
For the moment, the Federal Council is still asking the cantons to impose it in the public domain. The cantons of Fribourg, Geneva, Jura and since January 1 of Neuchâtel have taken the plunge. As for the private domain, on the other hand, it always remains at the goodwill of the restaurateurs.
vl/lan