Young Danes eat take away pizzas on the bridge dividing Nørrebro neighbourhood from the city ... [+] center.

In Copenhagen, it is rare to find bottles or cans in litters, as in the country there exists the deposit system where one receives back money one pays when purchasing flasks or cans. The Danish Deposit and Return System is the most successful in the world as more than 93% of plastic bottles and cans are returned and recycled. But the take away food culture is widespread in the city whereas the Municipality of Copenhagen estimates that at least 200 tonnes of takeaway plastic packaging ends up in public waste bins each year.

Therefore the Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen aims to trial out an experimental system where pizza containers, sushi trays and coffee cups should be able to be returned. The testing ground will be the popular and hip area of Kodbyen, the old meatpacking district , where now restaurants, bars and offices are located. “Far too much packaging for our Thai food box, pizza tray and plastic cup is produced to be used only once. And much of all the rubbish even ends up in our streets and parks. It is neither good for our climate, our environment or city life,” wrote Hæstorp Andersen. The cleaning unit of the municipality has to carry out an enormous amount of work, especially during the weekend, to clean up after people who have spent their evenings in the trendy area.

Copenhagen, Denmark, August 2015: workers of nearby small offices and residents living in the area, ... [+] have lunch in Meatpacking District in Copenhagen.

The initiative follows previous measures undertaken by the city of Copenhagen, for example demanding that for events where drinks are served, disposable plastic cups must not be used, but washable recycling solutions instead. “We are confident we will be able to eradicate single-use from Denmark,” said Robert Dichtl, Founder at kleen hub, one of the company involved in the creation of the reusable packaging test area, among NGOs and public and private institutions. Since 2021 kleen hub has tested a reusable cup return system in the Danish capital in collaboration with cafes and bakeries.

Consumers are generally concerned about the environment and climate, and are in favor of using recyclable packaging. But from behavioural research, we know that lack of awareness of practices can be a barrier to trying them out. In 2021 the Danish Environmental Protection Agency requested a consumer survey of the advantages and disadvantages of reusable takeaway packaging, which suggested that consumers would primarily be motivated to select reusable packaging over the takeaway counterpart, if the purchase would be cheaper or a reward would be given. Hence the decision to test this idea out now at a small scale: “I believe that the people of Copenhagen will make an effort for a greener future,” Lord Mayor Hæstorp Andersen said.