Social partners reaffirm the success of eco-cups in Klaipėda
A meeting of social partners invited to the MINEV project by the KRWMC took place in Klaipėda on 21 February 2024. The focus of the meeting was on eco-friendly cups that can replace disposable drink containers used at mass events.
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, many cities around the world transform into long-lasting celebrations, featuring trade and food services. Klaipėda is no exception. In early December 2023, a skating rink was installed in the main Theater Square of the old town, food stalls were erected, and the Christmas tree was lit. The festive entertainment and events, spanning over a month, attracted tens of thousands of visitors. Almost every visitor indulged in coffee, tea, mulled wine, or cocoa sold on the spot, resulting in tens of thousands of disposable cups.
In anticipation of this environmental issue, KRWMC proposed an experiment to the festival organisers and merchants operating at the venue: they purchased and provided over 1,200 organic cups free of charge. These cups, weighing 220 mg, are made of hard food dough that can be eaten and are suitable for both hot and cold drinks. Moreover, if the cup is not consumed, it easily decomposes when disposed of in the waste management system, like all biodegradable waste.
One of the social partners, Robertas Petraitis, a representative of "Klaipėdos šventės," the organisers of the aforementioned Christmas events, assured that not only were buyers surprised, but also merchants, who were even willing to cover part of the costs of purchasing the cups. The advertising campaign for organic cups, conducted jointly by KRWMC and "Klaipėdos šventės," generated significant interest among buyers: many requested to have their hot drinks poured into edible cups. Witnessing that their stocks were quickly depleting, the festival coordinators recommended that merchants only serve cocoa in these cups, as it was typically purchased by parents for the young visitors of the event.
The social partners of the MINEV project recommended to KRWMC to utilise this approach in the future to support other mass events in the city.
The current list of partners consists of specialists from the Klaipėda City Municipality Administration Environmental Protection Bureau, including Rasa Jievaitienė, Dr. Ramūnas Povilanskas from Klaipėda University, Artūras Pužas from the Environmental Projects Management Agency under the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, and Robertas Petraitis from the management of the Klaipėda Sea Festival. All partners participated in the project to gather experience, develop ideas, and share insights.