The deadline to stop using disposable cutlery is quickly approaching, therefore restaurants and fast-food businesses in France are scrambling to change their procedures. According to French environmental organisations, the industry will undergo a ‘paradigm shift’ starting on January 1, 2023, when all restaurants must use recyclable cutlery.
Foods like sandwiches and hamburgers can no longer be supplied in boxes under the new regulation. In contrast, paper can be used to wrap them. Other meals including chips, nuggets, pizza, cakes, ice cream, and beverages must be served with reusable cutlery that must be cleaned at 60 degrees Fahrenheit as in regular restaurants. French fast food restaurants number roughly 30,000. Around 6 billion meals are served by these each year. 180,000 tonnes of garbage are produced as a result. Reports indicate that those who eat in account for 55% of this waste.
Alice Elfassi, director of legal affairs for the NGO Zero Waste France, expressed her organization’s ‘great happiness’ that the law had finally taken effect. ‘ The fast food industry creates a lot of garbage. Although single-use plastic had previously been outlawed, it had been mostly replaced with disposable goods like cardboard, wood, and bamboo, which we believe to be an intolerable waste of resources’.
‘The majority of fast-food restaurants will choose hard plastic over traditional, long-lasting glass or china, and we are concerned about its longevity. Will it last hundreds of washings or will it be thrown away after only a few? We’ll keep an eye out for it’, she added. According to the new regulations, every eatery with more than 20 seats must offer food on reusable, machine-washable plates, glasses, and silverware.
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