Companies expected to largely ignore ban on disposable cups

The vast majority of companies will likely ignore the ban on using disposable cups that contain plastic for the time being. This is what three major reusable cup suppliers said about new legislation which came into effect from January 1.

Dutch Cups from Leeuwarden, one of the big players in the market for reusable material, estimates that no more than one in ten companies will respect the new legislation. According to account manager Björn Benjamins from Dutch Cups, there has been a lot of confusion about the new regulations, especially in recent months. "Many companies assume that the law will not be enforced for some time."

According to director Alex Elsinga of Cup Concept from Lelystad, the new restriction is almost impossible to follow. "Who is going to check this? If everybody switches on January 1, there will be a problem as there aren't that many reusable cups."

It is now mainly the giant companies that have taken measures due to the new legislation, said director Gawein Hamers from CupStack in Utrecht. "But that is mainly because of the image. The larger the company, the more they want to comply with the law."

Still, the three firms saw the demand for reusable cups increase sharply last year. CupStack's profits went up by 40 percent. "That is less than we had expected, but we can't complain," said Hamers. With the orders that CupStack has already received for next year, he expects a turnover increase of 300 percent in 2024.