The single-use plastic ban is costing businesses a lot more, with some paying more than double for biodegradable alternatives.
The single-use plastic ban makes it an offence for cafés to provide plastic straws, plates and other single-use plastic items.
But this is an expense many cannot afford at a time when costs are rising.
Melanie Ward is the manager at Blend Coffee Lounge in Dundee. She said their café no longer offers the banned single-use plastics.
“It’s a hurdle but it’s worth it,” Melanie said.
“It’s good for the environment – it’s nothing to be annoyed about.
“It will force businesses to think creatively [about] how we move forward together to take care of our world, our city and look after it a bit more.”
Cafés are ‘paying double’ to avoid single-use plastics
The only “annoying” aspect of the single-use plastic ban, says Melanie, is the cost.
“The cost of everything has gone through the roof.
“The biodegradable alternatives cost a lot more.
“You want to be an affordable place, but how do you combat these prices?
You want to do what’s right, but then you look at the prices and you’re paying double.”
Melanie Ward, manager at Blend Coffee Lounge
“To buy a box of cups that are biodegradable is £70, to get non-biodegradable is only £30.
“That’s the price difference we’re looking at. As a small business, that is a very big deal.
“You want to do what’s right, but then you look at the prices and you’re paying double.”
“But it’s just one of those things that you have to do.
“We’ve just got to hope that it will do some good.
“That’s why a lot of businesses are shutting down. They look at the prices and think – we can’t do this.”
Biodegradable options ‘not fit for purpose’
Angela Black is the director of Super Snack, a takeaway obeying the ban.
She said that she isn’t a fan of the biodegradable options they have to use.
“The quality is rubbish,” said Angela, 42.
“The paper bags [fall apart] as soon as you put a drink in them.
“It is more expensive. It’s costing us a lot more money that we definitely can’t afford.
“It’s easy enough to make the switch, it’s just finding the stuff that isn’t too expensive.
Customers often come in asking ‘is that all you’ve got?’ when they see the wooden spoons Super Snack is offering.
Angela said: “The new cutlery and straws are just not fit for purpose.”
Clark’s Bakery is another business that has been forced to move away from single-use plastics.
Staff members Dayna Clark and Wendy Ogilvie said they frequently get complaints from customers about the alternatives they are using.
Their new biodegradable takeaway boxes are not very sturdy, says Dayna, 23.
She said: “It’s not that the food spills. But the boxes can go soft when there is hot food in them.
“And if someone’s taking their food on a fifteen-minute walk home, I don’t know how soggy that would end up.”
Scotland’s #SingleUsePlasticBan is exempt from the UK Internal Market Act, allowing the ban to be fully effective.
Find out more at https://t.co/Uj88kDNQjc pic.twitter.com/2PJ8zCDtjw
— Zero Waste Scotland (@ZeroWasteScot) October 14, 2022
Biodegradable and compostable plastics are also advised against, say Zero Waste Scotland.
Then what is the environmentally-friendly alternative for cafés and takeaways?
While Zero Waste Scotland suggests providing reusable cutlery or containers and asking customers to bring them back, Wendy from Clark’s Bakery says that just wouldn’t work.
“You would never see it again.
“People wouldn’t bring them back.”
What are the consequences for businesses ignoring the single-use plastic ban?
According to the Scottish Government, failure to comply with the regulations carries a maximum fine of £5,000.
When asked how businesses will be charged, Fife Council’s head of protective services, Nigel Kerr, said that teams will take an education before enforcement approach.
Conversation