Beakers and coffee stirrers: use, throw away and reuse

The circular economy enters the world of vending machines thanks to RiVending, a pilot project conceived by Confida (Italian Vending Machine Association), Corepla (National Italian Consortium for the Collection, Recycling and Recovery of Plastic Packaging) and Unionplast (The National Italian Union of Plastic Material Converters - Plastics Rubber Federation) and launched in the municipality of Parma.

But how does it actually work? Consumers, after having tasted their coffee at the vending machine, will be invited to throw the beaker and stirrer into a special container, which will keep them separate from other plastic packaging. The specific green bag will then be collected together with the rest of the segregated waste by Iren, a multiservice company that deals with the integrated waste management cycle in the province of Parma.

In line with the European Union’s circular economy requirements, the project has therefore the objective of creating a closed collection/recycling circuit that simplifies the selection of a very high quality plastic, 100% recyclable and “clean” “(With residues that can be removed by simple washing), with which new products can be created.
Sponsored by the Municipality of Parma, RiVending will be coordinated locally by FLO SpA (a leading disposable beaker manufacturer), with the participation of Molinari Buonristoro and GeSA Vending, (automatic vending machine operators), and with the support of Iren.