“A burger, a large fries, and a china plate please” : will we see this kind of orders at the counters of fast food establishments from the 1is January 2023? Crockery will surely not be a Limoges service, but the anti-waste law for a circular economy (Agec) now requires fast food restaurants to serve meals taken on site in reusable containers.
Establishments selling burgers or pizzas but also coffee chains, museum cafeterias, canteens, or sandwich chains will all be concerned provided that they can accommodate more than 20 seats. With this new measure, the state hopes to further limit waste and achieve its goal of eliminating single-use plastic packaging by 2040.
115 tonnes of packaging per day at McDonald’s
No more sandwich boxes, cardboard fries cones and disposable cups. To replace them, McDonald’s has chosen containers made of tritan, a very solid plastic derivative that withstands repeated washing. Same choice at Burger King. Other more upscale brands go further. Big Fernand will henceforth serve his “hamburgers” on porcelain plates. The only vestige of the past, the paper that surrounds the sandwiches, which is not affected by the new regulations.
“It’s a revolution for the fast food sector”, recognizes Moïra Tourneur, head of advocacy for the Zero Waste France association, which campaigns for waste reduction. According to a study published in 2017 by the association, McDonald’s restaurants in France use around 115 tonnes of packaging per day, or nearly 42,000 tonnes per year.
By way of comparison, a French person produces an average of 582 kg of waste each year. According to other government figures, 180,000 tonnes of waste is produced each year by fast food restaurants, more than half of which is linked to on-site catering.
This new regulation requires groups to completely reorganize their scullery. «In some restaurants, walls had to be pushed, assures Muriel Reyss, director of communication and CSR at Burger King France. We had to create more than 470 different and tailor-made plans, adapted to the reality of all our restaurants. »
Dishwashers, dryers, sinks, fast food restaurants have been forced to invest in order to meet new standards. They will also have to train their workforce to sort, wash and dry this new reusable tableware.
With these measures, the American group hopes to reduce its waste production by 950 tonnes per year. Its competitor McDonald’s is counting on 8,000 tonnes less waste per year. Some of its establishments have already started serving fries and nuggets in reusable cones, as in Rennes or Strasbourg.
Ignition delay
Beyond these initiatives, the chains still seem taken aback. In several McDonald’s in the capital, cardboard, paper and plastic are still accumulating on trays and in garbage cans, and no signage has yet been installed just a few days before the decree comes into force. Only 10% of restaurants will not be equipped, we argue at the burger leader, or around 150 establishments.
Same ignition delay for its dolphin Burger King. If the brand says it is ready to “deploy massively” its plastic containers and glass cups in its 500 establishments in France, only fifty will be equipped with them before the fateful date. ” All brands do not seem to be developed, a few days before the entry into force of the regulations, notes Moïra Tourneur. Let’s wait to see at the start of the school year whether the measure will be followed or not. »
Like the head of advocacy for Zero Waste France, the associations remain cautious about the claims of restaurateurs. In a column published in the Sunday newspaper on December 5, several of them challenged the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu, asking him to “ensure that the penalties provided for by the regulatory framework can be applied in the event of non-compliance”.
In response, the Minister announced that he would receive the main players in the sector at the beginning of 2023 so that they could present their action plan before a control campaign carried out by the State services. In a tweet, Christophe Béchu promised to be “demanding with the large restaurant chains, which must lead by example”.
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Test instructions for take-out sales
The takeaway sale is not affected by reusable tableware, although it is responsible for a large amount of waste. Several initiatives are still led by the giants of fast food. In the United Kingdom, Burger King has been experimenting with a new sustainable packaging deposit system since spring 2022. Burger lovers in ten UK cities must now leave a pound sterling deposit which will be returned to them if they bring their plastic wrappers back to the store. In France, the Starbucks coffee chain has been offering a similar service in five Parisian establishments since May. Since 2004, the American brand has already offered a reduction of 30 cents to its customers who bring their own reusable cup.