SACHET AWAY
Call to bring back the bottle from single-use plastic campaigners
Cafes are being urged to bring back ketchup bottles and ditch sauce sachets.
Environment campaign group Zero Waste Scotland is demanding hospitality businesses slash single-use waste after a pilot scheme led to a massive fall in the number of disposable items thrown away.
The 12-month Ditching Disposables scheme saw sachet use drop by 99 per cent when firms switched to refillable bottles.
Takeaway cup use dropped by 96 per cent when customers were charged for single-use cups and offered reusable cups for a deposit.
The cafes, bars and restaurants that took part were in the Portobello and Joppa areas of Edinburgh.
They were chosen because of the high volumes of litter found on Portobello Beach.
Firms involved included pizza joint Civerinos, The Cake and Candy Tearoom, Spanish restaurant Malvarosa and street foodstyle outlet ShrimpWreck.
ZWS is now urging all food and drink businesses to adopt measures including using refillable sauce bottles and reusable takeaway cups, and making straws and stirrers available by request only.
A spokesman said: “We know two massive barriers these businesses face when adopting more sustainable practices are time and money.
“But this scheme demonstrates that time invested in implementing these small changes can have a substantial positive effect on the environment and business’ finances and the majority of them are incredibly quick and easy to implement.”
The pilot led to a monthly saving of 266kg C02 equivalent and 16,273 single-use items.
Scotland banned many single-use plastics in 2022.
Lorna Slater, Green MSP and circular economy minister, said: “I hope the findings of this pilot will encourage businesses to ditch disposables wherever possible.
“We will be introducing mandatory charges for single-use coffee cups and are bringing forward an ambitious Bill that will support Scotland’s transition to a circular economy and increase reuse and recycling rates.”