Can Ukrainian coffee shops offer customers eco-alternatives when selling them their favourite beverage, and in this way contribute to solving the waste management challenge?

Text: Iryna Myronova, Sofia-Yuliia Sydorenko,Valeria Kit (Zero Waste Lviv); Oksana Udovyk (UNDP Ukraine)

Editing: Euan Macdonald, Tetyana Kononenko (UNDP Ukraine)

So why did we start our experiments with coffee? The culture of consuming coffee to go (or any other beverage or snack) has become very popular in our fast-moving world. This is a quick and convenient option, but the downside is the excessive use of single-use cups (plastic lids, straws, tableware and other utensils) that soon turn into a huge pile of mostly non-recyclable waste.

To test eco-alternatives for coffee lovers, our partners from the environmental NGO Zero Waste Lviv conducted several experiments based on circular economy principles, according to which the entire production and consumption cycle is designed so that the amount of waste is minimal or, ideally, zero.

We have already talked about this experiment, run in KREDENS CAFÉ, the Lviv network of coffee shops, with the support of the UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab.

Now we are looking into the takeaways from this experiment, which approaches worked, and which need to be improved.

The experiments were organized in four stages, each two weeks long:

·        at the first stage, the baristas talked to customers and informed them about the possibility of taking coffee-to-go in their own cup;

·        at the second stage, the coffee shop offered a 30 percent discount to anyone who came with their own reusable cup;

·        at the third stage, we invited customers to try coffee in an edible cup;

·        and at the fourth stage, the customers tested our mobile application with a map of cafes giving a discount on coffee in your own cup. The app also contained a gamified system of motivation for coffee consumption in reusable cups.

Throughout the whole experiment, there were interviewers present at the sales locations to survey coffee buyers about their experiences of using reusable and/or edible cups. In total, almost 200 coffee shop customers were interviewed during the experiment.

Experiment 1. Own cups and a discount

Coffee shops encouraged consumers to bring their own cup by giving them a 30 percent discount. Meanwhile, interviewers asked customers whether it was convenient for them to use a reusable cup.

The large discount was offered in order to draw attention to the experiment. In fact, coffee shops could give a maximum 10 percent discount on coffee going into the customer’s own cup – as the cost of a single-use cup is 2-5 UAH, or around 5-10 percent of the drink’s cost. If the coffee shop were to provide a bigger discount, it would not gain enough income to cover all the operating costs of their business. It might be possible to cover such expenditures using marketing budgets, but given the current COVID-19-related challenges for businesses, coffee shops are doing their best to avoid additional expenses.

Although the discount is an attractive option, we have identified some barriers that prevent people from using reusable cups:

-        Customers forget the cups at home;

-        It’s not always comfortable to carry cups around: they are either too heavy or too bulky and do not fit in a small bag;

-        Cups are inconvenient to wash. Besides, sometimes it is not practical if customers drink coffee several times per day. Customers feel uncomfortable about asking baristas to wash a dirty cup for them and then fill it with coffee;

-        The cups might leak, as they are often not airtight. Therefore, customers have to think how to carry the cup without spilling coffee on themselves or inside a bag.

Despite the fact that visitors to coffee shops were positive about the initiative and the discount for using reusable cups (49 percent of them said they were happy to get a discount, and a third of respondents promised to bring their own cups), in the end only 9 percent of respondents actually did bring their own cups.

Most of the surveyed consumers said the opportunity to get a 20-30 percent discount would motivate them to use their own cup. Nonetheless, as explained above, such a discount is not realistic. Moreover, the experiment results showed that it was ineffective, as there was no particular increase in the use of reusable cups. Only those customers who have already had the experience or a habit of using their own cup were more likely to trust the service of such a coffee-to-go option.

Experiment 2. Gamification

A mobile application was created to inform customers about the exact locations of coffee shops where discounts for reusable cups were available. The app prototype was shown to the coffee shops visitors.

One important insight was the discovery that customers could be reluctant to download an additional app, particularly if they were not sure they would use it later. Therefore, such an IT solution couldbe more effective either in the format of a plugin for an existing application, or in the format of a website.

The idea behind the ​​"Forest" is “to grow trees” every time you drink a beverage from a reusable cup, which is shown by a graphic in the application – when you use a reusable cup instead of  a disposable one, the planted tree will grow by one centimetre.

This utility was built on data that shows how much wood is used to make a single disposable cup. At the same time, it was proposed to actually plant the trees that were "grown" in the application. However, this idea requires additional funds and, therefore, additional investment.

Experiment 3. Edible cup

Yet another solution was an edible cup made of a waffle base and covered with chocolate-sugar icing. It seemed to be an excellent idea: one drinks the coffee and eats the cup for the dessert. As a result, there will be zero waste produced.

However, 95% of customers actually refused to try the edible cup, for two main reasons:. Most of the interviewed visitors said that the cup was too sweet. However, in order to "keep" hot coffee, a thick layer of chocolate glaze is needed. This makes the cup very sweet by default.

The second reason concerned the size. Such a small cup is only suitable for espresso, since it cannot keep a large volume of liquid. This made the cup specialized, and yet unpopular among espresso lovers, as they love the drink mainly for its bitterness and drink it in a few sips. Espresso, in combination with an edible cup, turned into a sweet dessert.

Given all these factors, it is definitely not possible to make an edible cup a common alternative to a disposable one.

"Invisible waste"

Let’s not forget about "invisible waste". Each product consumes not only the materials used for its production, but also resources utilized during its production, transportation and packaging, as well as waste generated by these processes.

Let us look at each of these stages in more detail:

·        Production

It is important to know where, from which material, and under which conditions these cups are produced. The manufacturing process should be as local as possible. It is good if such a process does not require special additional equipment and the start of a completely new production cycle. In our case, such cups can be produced in confectioneries. Ingredients and their quality are also important: these could be either imported or else grown or made locally. It is also necessary to find out whether the raw materials for the cups were ethically and ecologically extracted and grown.

·        Transportation

It’s essential to give preference to local production (so that cups do not travel through the whole country or from abroad), as well as make rational and efficient use of space when transporting cups in trucks and boxes, in particular. It is important not to increase the number of deliveries so as not to cause unnecessary emissions into the atmosphere.

-        Packaging

The wrapping of the product also matters. In our experiment, each edible cup was wrapped in cardboard so that consumers did not touch the cup itself with their hands. There was also individual non-recyclable plastic packaging for each edible cup. Even for the experiment team, these non-eco-friendly details came as a surprise.

-        And, finally, food waste

In addition to the double packaging mentioned above, there is also the danger of food waste, which is impossible to control. We had no way to check how many people had not finish eating the cup and thrown it into the trash. Some customers, who drank coffee on the spot, ate the cup and immediately commented on its taste. However, there were some customers who took coffee in an edible cup and left. They all said they planned to eat a cup, but we had no means to check whether it they actually did so.

Our research on opportunities and challenges for the circular economy in Ukraine is not complete. We will look for and test new hypotheses. If you have a hypothesis for us to test, get in touch with us at zerowastelviv@gmail.com and acclab.ua@undp.org!

Experiments with reducing single-use cups is a result of cooperation among NGO Zero Waste Lviv, UNDP AccLab and coffeehouses chain KREDENS CAFÉ.

Background:

Zero Waste Lviv is a community established at the end of 2016 as a volunteer counselling centre at the Lviv City Council on waste management and prevention. In 2018 Zero Waste Lviv was registered as an NGO. Its mission is to promote the implementation of zero waste principles in Ukraine via establishing Lviv as a model municipality setting standards for other cities.

UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab is a global UNDP initiative aimed at identifying, elaborating and scaling-up innovative and sustainable solutions for local communities. Ninety-two Accelerator Labs teams are serving 116 countries to tackle 21st century development challenges.