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Pressrelease | 2018-12-12

New initiative to reduce takeaway litter

Reusable containers or packaging deposit systems – is there a way to cut down on waste caused by our penchant for takeaway food? A newly started test project currently underway at the property company Vasakronan’s head office is investigating the matter.

–  The takeaway phenomenon has taken off dramatically, not only in Sweden but all over the world, and this means we must find innovative solutions quickly. By reducing the use of disposable packaging, we save both resources and reduce littering, because disposable items are a major contributing factor to the accumulation of rubbish in nature, says Åsa Stenmarck, waste expert at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. The project is a collaboration between IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Vasakronan, Ragn-Sells and Håll Sverige Rent, and is set to run for a year. The goal is to find a way of cutting back on takeaway and disposable packaging waste. The test site for the project is the Klara Zenit building in Stockholm, which houses the Vasakronan head office. Together with company employees and restaurants located in the building, or in nearby properties, the project is testing new types of solutions, such as reusable containers and deposit systems. Remuneration alternatives will be tested over a few months and the restaurants will provide continuous feedback to facilitate evaluation of the various improvements that have been introduced. Vasakronan has 176 properties and thousands of tenants. The company has made waste management a prime concern. With this project, Vasakronan wants to raise awareness among its own staff and find out how, as landlord, they can incentivize tenants who sell takeout meals to provide alternative solutions. Åsa Stenmarck believes that there is great potential to reduce waste by introducing alternative solutions for food consumed at the office and cutting back on the number of containers and side orders in general. – It is mostly a question of making customers aware of the problem and in this way enabling them to make smarter choices. It will be exciting to test the solutions we come up with and to work on developing them on a larger scale, she says. If you have questions, please contact: Åsa Stenmarck, asa.stenmarck@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 65 66

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