2023-10-27 08:08:00
Opinion recycling
In France, plastic waste is disposed of in style
For years there has been a heated debate in France about whether to adopt the German deposit system. But the compulsory fee for disposable plastic bottles should not come. The reason for this is an invention from Normandy that is also well received in other countries.
Status: 27.10.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes
By Kira Hanser
responsible editor travel/style/engine
You can now see such machines in many supermarkets and shopping centers in France. They are called “B:Bot”, pronounced Bibotte
Those: B-bot.com
Anyone traveling in France will be pleasantly surprised to see how elegantly their neighbors are reducing plastic waste – and all without compulsory deposits. While in this country a deposit is charged for everything, whether disposable, reusable or “Recup” cups, the French do not use such a means of pressure. They rely on stylish alternatives that delight holidaymakers and locals alike.
Disneyland Paris now only has sustainable reusable tableware, which is produced in the Odenwald in Hesse. Plates, bowls and cups are made from recycled cooking oil.
In all French fast food branches of McDonald’s there are only reusable hard plastic cups and bowls in red and white for cola, fries and hamburgers, which are reminiscent of Air France’s business class tableware, designed by the Parisian Elium studio. Many bistros offer their own pretty reusable tableware for their guests. Since the beginning of 2023, disposable tableware has no longer been allowed to be used in France’s catering industry.
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And then there is a new French specialty that looks very chic. There are vending robots in many supermarkets and shopping centers, such as in Strasbourg, Alsace. They call themselves “B:Bot,” pronounced Bibotte.
This French invention from Normandy aims to effectively recycle plastic bottles. There are no boring deposit return presses like in this country, but there plastic bottles, no matter what type and where they come from, are elegantly crumbled behind a glass pane into fascinatingly small, glittering flakes. Practical: You can watch it – children find this particularly exciting – and get money as a reward.
In the “B:Bot” plastic bottles are crumbled into small, glittering flakes behind a glass pane
Source: Hanser
Any shop that sets up a machine can control this reward. Sometimes there are two cents per bottle, sometimes ten cents as a voucher, and this is often combined with competitions using the customer card. French plastic collecting lottery, so to speak.
France already exports Bibotte machines
The French have therefore started collecting plastic bottles avidly. These Bibotte machines are now in more than 500 locations, and around 460,000 plastic bottles are thrown in there every day across the country. The elegant concept is so successful that the plastic shredding machines are now also available in the overseas territories of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, in French Guiana and in the Antilles in the Caribbean. The first Bibottes have now also been exported to Portugal and Tunisia.
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This means that the threat of mandatory deposits on disposable plastic bottles is probably off the table for the French. For three years there has been a heated debate about whether France will adopt the German deposit system to charge a recycling fee of up to 25 cents on purchases, which will be refunded upon return.
But the municipalities are fighting back. They rely on the self-determination of their citizens: there are certain cultural brakes; The French are not so used to coercion, as the Zero Waste Association in Strasbourg puts it diplomatically. The French and holidaymakers prefer to throw disposable bottles into the yellow bin for recycling – or bibott them.
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In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.
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