Scrapping plastic: HEMA steps up sustainability by replacing single-use plastic products
20 Feb 2019 --- Dutch-based retail store HEMA is to replace single-use, disposable plastic products in all cases where a more sustainable alternative is available, ahead of the 2021 deadline set by the EU as part of the Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). The process has already begun, but HEMA will further roll out the sale of more sustainable versions of plastic stirrers, drinking straws, cotton ear buds and plastic confetti in the fall.
“Our responsibility goes further than just disposable plastic products. We are tackling the entire plastic problem: disposable products, packaging and the products we sell. This means that we are phasing out the use of plastic where not necessary, using recycled plastic and motivating customers to reuse products,” says Eva Ronhaar, Head of Sustainability at HEMA.
HEMA plans to sell only paper and metal drinking straws, while cotton earbuds made from cardboard are already available in some HEMA stores and will be introduced in all HEMA stores. Since January, customers have also been encouraged to bring their own cup for hot drinks in a bid to reduce the number of single-use coffee cups being used. Although based in the Netherlands, HEMA has stores in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Spain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Austria and the UK.
The future of single-use plastics
Last year, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU released its SUPD, which includes ten types of single-use plastics that will be banned in EU countries by 2021. The products include plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons and chopsticks), plastic plates, plastic straws, food containers made of expanded polystyrene, such as fast food boxes, cotton bud sticks made of plastic, beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene and products made from oxo-degradable plastic.
At the time of the announcement, the SUDP received mixed responses from the packaging industry.
The EU-level Trade Association for European Plastics Converters (EuPC) voiced dismay at the Directive, claiming that the proposal contained a definition of single-use products which was misleading and did not reflect industrial classification while also causing fragmentation of the single market.
Meanwhile, Meadhbh Bolger, Resource Justice Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe on behalf of Rethink Plastic, said: “The EU deserves praise for being the first region to introduce new laws to reduce single-use plastics and slash plastic pollution in our fields, rivers and oceans. What’s less laudable is that the plastics lobby – backed up by some governments – was able to delay and weaken the ambition.”
However, the retail and foodservice industry has responded well in terms of voluntary single-use plastic reductions and eradication, preceding the 2021 deadline. One arguably successful example would be the plastic straw.
In June 2018, McDonald’s announced a “phased rollout” of paper straws to replace plastic straws across all of its 1,361 UK and Ireland restaurants from September 2018 onwards. The transition was expected to be finalized by 2019, while the fast-food giant is also trialing alternatives to plastic straws in Belgium as well as conducting tests for select restaurants in the US, France, Sweden, Norway and Australia.
In July 2018, Starbucks announced that it will no longer provide single-use plastic straws in its 28,000 plus stores worldwide, in a move that is expected to eliminate more than one billion plastic straws annually. The coffee giant will instead offer a strawless lid or paper or plastic compostable straw alternative. Also in the US, Seattle became the first major city to ban single-use plastic straws and eating utensils, in July 2018.
