Studierendenwerk Vorderpfalz introduces recup at Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences:
Disposable cups for hot drinks will soon be history at the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences: starting May 2, coffee, cocoa and the like will be served in reusable deposit cups in the cafeterias on campus. The Studierendenwerk Vorderpfalz is thus introducing the recup reusable system at its second location after Landau.
44,807 hot beverages are served annually in the cafeterias at Ludwigshafen University. Each of the 4,709 students drinks an average of 100 hot beverages during the 230 opening days. Around 30% of the coffee, cocoa and other beverages are served in disposable cups. This means that 13,939 disposable cups are thrown away every year. This is now a thing of the past in Ludwigshafen - the Studierendenwerk is officially introducing the recup reusable system from May 2.
After a successful start with the recup reusable system at the end of last year in Landau, the Studierendenwerk has decided that the other locations will follow suit. "The response to the sustainable cup concept in Landau has been consistently positive," says a delighted Andreas Dubiel, head of university catering at Studierendenwerk Vorderpfalz. "This has encouraged us to now switch our second location, Ludwigshafen, to the recup deposit system. In a survey last August, many students from Ludwigshafen wanted the fancy, BPA-free cups at their university as well," Dubiel continued.
The cup, which can be purchased in the future in the cafeterias at the university, costs a deposit of one euro. At the end of its use, the 100% recyclable recup is simply returned to one of the participating partners, which can be in the cafeteria or somewhere else entirely. The euro is then returned - whether in Ludwigshafen, Berlin or Landau.
The disposable cups will still be available in the cafeterias at the university in Ludwigshafen, but in the future for a fee of 25 cents per cup. "If our customers go along with sustainability with the recup system, we'll think about banning disposable cups from all our cafeterias altogether," says Dubiel.
At the roundtable for a reusable concept among coffee suppliers, founded by the cities of Ludwigshafen, Frankenthal, Neustadt and the Rhine-Palatinate district, the majority were in favor of the recup system. "This ensures that we are not on an island with the system, but that students can also exchange their cups again outside the university," explains Ellen Schlomka, climate protection coordinator for the city of Ludwigshafen.
Information on recup
Every year in Germany alone, around 2.8 billion disposable cups are used for coffee-to-go and thrown away after a single use - 320,000 cups per hour. The recup deposit system for coffee-to-go cups avoids disposable waste and conserves resources.
Annual savings potential through recup:
- 11,000t CO²
- 43,000 trees
- 40,000t of waste
- 1.5 billion liters of water
- 320 million kWh electricity
- 3.000t crude oil
Source: www.recup.de
