A bicycle delivery man, working for the Deliveroo platform, rue de Rivoli in Paris.
-
M.ASTAR / SIPA
200 million meals were delivered in France in 2019. Considering that for a meal delivered, three to four packages are used, this represents at a minimum more than 600 million single-use packages, calculates the Ministry of Ecological Transition .
In this charter signed on Monday, the main French players in the catering industry commit to reducing their use of single-use plastic and improving the reuse of their packaging.
Above all, they promise to experiment in 2021 with local solutions for the reuse of containers and packaging.
Like those put in place recently by a growing number of restaurateurs specializing in take-out delivery.
The main meal delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Stuart or Deliveroo, etc.), and the main players in digital cuisine * (Foodcheri, Nestor, PopChef, Frichti, etc.).
But also packaging manufacturers (Metro, Duralex) and start-ups specializing in the reuse of containers (Reconcil, En box le plat, or Uzaje) ...
Twenty players in the restoration delivered will meet this Monday afternoon at the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Brought together by Minister Barbara Pompili, they will sign a charter of voluntary commitments to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging and develop reuse.
A major consumer of single-use packaging
The stakes are high in the battle against single-use plastic.
In 2019, in France, more than 200 million meals were delivered by players in the catering sector.
"Considering that for a meal delivered, three to four packages are used, this represents at least more than 600 million single-use packages that end up in our bins", calculates the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
This is not the first time that the actors of the delivered restoration have gathered at the Hôtel de Rocquelaure.
Last July already, Brune Poirson, then Secretary of State for the Ecological Transition, brought them together by giving them three months to present their “zero waste” strategies.
“There were first renderings, assures
20 Minutes
, Barbara Pompili.
But the second confinement and all the issues related to Covid-19 may have delayed players in developing their strategy.
We wanted to give them more time to have the most ambitious and realistic charter possible.
"
Go beyond the anti-waste law for a circular economy
The anti-waste law for a circular economy (Agec), the first anniversary of which is being celebrated, already sets a whole series of obligations in terms of reduction of single-use plastics for the catering sector, including delivered catering.
This is notably the ban on a whole series of disposable plastic objects already in effect.
Disposable cups, glasses and plates since January 1, 2020 and glass lids, cutlery and expanded polystyrene containers since this year.
It is also the gradual elimination of single-use plastic packaging with a target of end of marketing in 2040.
“This Agec law provides the general rules and objectives that we need,” continues the Minister of Ecological Transition.
At the same time, there is a lot of thought and consultation to be carried out, sector by sector, to see how to concretely achieve these objectives.
And this question arises in particular for home-delivered catering, which consumes a lot of single-use plastic today and which has been booming since the start of the health crisis linked to Covid-19.
"
This charter includes ten commitments.
The signatories promise in particular to ban plastic bags for delivery by 2023, to end the systematic delivery of cutlery and sauces from next March 1 and, above all, to reach 50% of packaging delivered without plastic. for single use by January 1, 2022 and 70% by January 1, 2023. Other significant commitments: to achieve 100% recyclable containers and packaging by 2022.
More than recycling, aim for reuse ...
Above all, this charter aims to pave the way for the development of reuse in the catering industry.
In other words, the use of reusable packaging and containers that the company would collect itself once empty or that the consumer would have to bring back himself.
They would then be washed to be put back into the circuit.
Because it helps to reduce waste production and because it uses less energy overall, reuse should be preferred over recycling **, consider environmental NGOs.
The Agec law also establishes this hierarchy and sets obligations in this area for fast food restaurants.
From 2023, meals and beverages consumed on the premises of these establishments [typically McDonald's] must therefore be served in reusable containers.
On the other hand, there are no similar obligations foreseen for meals offered for sale to take away or delivered to homes or businesses.
This does not prevent restaurateurs from experimenting with meals served in returnable boxes that the customer is then responsible for bringing back.
These initiatives are spreading as the start-ups that seek to support them in this transition are structured and become more powerful.
As soon as the charter is signed, Barbara Pompili will go to Neuilly-sur Marne (Seine-Saint-Denis) for the inauguration of the Uzaje industrial washing center.
The first in Ile-de-France for the company which already operates one in Rennes and plans to have eight covering the entire metropolis in 2022. “In Neuilly-sur-Marne, we can wash up to 40 million containers per year, details Emmanuel Auberger, founder and president of Uzaje.
They will come in particular from large-scale distribution and collective catering, where we have partnerships to develop returnable packaging, but also catering delivered.
From this spring, for example, we will be working with Foodles [connected company restaurant], one of the companies brought together by Barbara Pompili this Monday.
"
The promise to try ...
This is the whole objective of this charter: to encourage the main players in the catering industry to embark on concrete reuse.
The signatories thus undertake to carry out experiments on local solutions in this area from 2021.
"They will be used to assess the ecological interest and the economic viability of these reuse systems," says Barbara Pompili.
These actors will not be left alone.
A monitoring committee will meet every two months to review these tests.
They will also be able to benefit from support from Ademe (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and ask to mobilize the credits opened by the circular economy component of the “France Relance” plan.
"
Or all the same 500 million euros, "of which about half, precisely, is dedicated to substitutes for single-use plastic", recalls the Minister.
Planet
Zero waste: The deposit in take-out restaurants, an idea that only asks to grow
Planet
Consumption: The deposit, on the way to making its way into mass distribution?
* These "virtual" restaurants that operate from a central kitchen
** Use the raw material of a waste - packaging for example - to make a new object
circular economy
Barbara pompili
Restoration
Fast food
Planet