Fast food packaging, drinking straws, to-go cups: many single-use plastic products will be banned in the EU from July 3rd.
The gastronomy is particularly affected.
The plastic ban is not well received by everyone.
Fürstenfeldbruck
- According to the Federal Environment Ministry, around 140,000 to-go cups are used every hour in Germany.
A survey by the Society for Packaging Market Research showed: In 2017, 346,000 tons of waste were generated from disposable tableware and to-go packaging.
Much of it ends up in the sea, where there is massive damage to the environment.
The EU has therefore decided that as of July 3, various plastic items may no longer be produced or put on the market (see box).
The plastic ban and the food truck
For Christina Zill with her food truck at the Brucker Viehmarktplatz, this means that she will soon no longer be able to buy styrofoam containers for her curry sausage to take away. Only goods produced before July 3rd may still be sold and consumed by the catering industry. Zill still has two and a half boxes with styrofoam containers in the basement. Then she has to resort to alternatives.
The new containers are based on so-called gassing - a by-product that, for example, is left over from sugar cane in sugar production.
The food truck operator is not enthusiastic about the new packaging: "The containers soften very quickly when wet," says Christina Zill.
Serving french fries with it is not a problem, she is already doing that.
Zill describes eating currywurst from bagasse containers as "simply disgusting".
You will of course change the packaging anyway.
"I have to adhere to the law." However, the requirements are not consistent.
Zill criticizes the government for not subsidizing paper bags.
These are expensive to buy.
“I don't want to pass the additional costs on to the customers.” The result: the food truck operator reluctantly uses plastic bags.
The plastic ban and the bakery
The Drexler bakery in Jesenwang, which sells its coffee in to-go cups, is hoped for a reaction from the manufacturer.
“There will have to be a rethink,” says Ulrich Drexler.
After all, the producers want to keep selling their goods.
The Jesenwang bakery still has a few to-go cups on demand from the manufacturers.
These are now also consumed.
At the same time, Drexler relies on reusable vessels.
“We have our own reusable cup to buy and we also accept the Bruck cup.” The deposit cup was introduced in the district a good three years ago and is accepted by many shops.
The plastic ban on the crepes cart and in the restaurant
It is a good thing if you did not rely on single-use plastic before the new law. For example Mona Ragheb, who is out and about in the district with her crepes cart and also sells hot drinks. "I was practically a pioneer and have never used plastic," says the Grafratherin. Instead, she has deposit cups and cups. Ragheb gives her crepes or quiches to men in an extremely minimalist way: on butcher paper and with a napkin.
Even at Unterwirt in Türkenfeld you don't even have to react to the new EU requirements.
"We banned single-use plastic from our kitchen as early as 2019," says managing director Josef Hartl junior.
Instead, the inn uses recyclable and compostable containers for its to-go offers.
So you can continue to offer take-away food with a clear conscience, says Hartl.
"But we are not angry when it gets less, because people should rather come to the inn."
The following plastic products are banned from July 3rd:
1) Disposable cutlery and dishes made of plastic, drinking straws, stirring sticks, cotton swabs and balloon sticks made of plastic, to-go drinks cups as well as fast food packaging and disposable food containers made of Styrofoam.
2) Disposable plates, cups and cutlery made of bio-based or biodegradable plastics are also no longer permitted.
3) The same applies to disposable cardboard dishes, even if only a small part is made of plastic or is covered with plastic.
4) Numerous other disposable products - for example, wet wipes or cigarettes with plastic-containing filters - are still allowed.
From July 3rd, however, they must be provided with a special label that warns of environmental damage caused by plastic and also provides information on correct disposal.
