Reusable dishes: in fast foods, the account is not there
Disposable tableware in fast food restaurants is not yet ancient history. ” More than half (restaurants visited), i.e. 57%, continue to use only disposable tableware for on-site catering “, deplores the Zero Waste association, which sent its activists to inspect 286 fast food restaurants, from January 9 to 22.
Since January 1, fast food establishments with at least 20 seats, have to resort to reusable dishes (cups, plates, containers, cutlery, etc.) for meals and drinks served at the table, in application of the law relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy voted in 2020.
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“The ban on disposable tableware for on-site catering is still little respected by fast food brands”, deplores Zero Waste in a press release. Its activists have visited these restaurants, including Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s and Quick, “in 48 cities and territories” in France.
Fines incurred
Zero Waste therefore wrote to the four brands on Tuesday “to alert them to the illegality of this practice and to ask them to quickly put an end to this violation in all of their establishments”. Two of them, KFC and Quick, “are bad students, with 100% of restaurants, 55 and 25 respectively, not applying the law” and teams who say “not having received precise information on the part of the headquarters on the dates and developments envisaged”, affirms Zero Waste.
On the Burger King side, “the restaurants visited mainly serve meals on site in disposable dishes, at 59%, or 57 restaurants”. At McDonald’s, “one in four restaurants visited, or 26 restaurants out of the 110 visited, still serves meals on site in disposable dishes,” adds the association.
The fines incurred are “7,500 euros, 15,000 euros in the event of a repeat offense” for these offenses, says Alice Elfassi, legal affairs manager for Zero Waste France quoted by the press release, calling on the State to “guarantee respect for the law” through “adequate controls”.
