Workplace Beverage Consumption: 8 in 10 French People Want Disposable Cups to Be Banned
- Apr 25, 2023
- 3 min read
The era of disposable cups is coming to an end: it’s time for reusable solutions. 80% of employees would like disposable cups to be banned in the workplace.
Employees who use mugs too often neglect proper cleaning. In fact, 88% of employees do not clean them properly and simply rinse them in the bathroom sink.
Employees do not want to carry out household chores at work. 67% of surveyed employees say they do not want to empty their company dishwasher.
Auum, an impact-driven start-up and expert in workplace reuse, wanted to learn more about the habits of French employees when it comes to drinking beverages at work. To do so, Auum partnered with polling institute Ifop to conduct a survey among a sample of 1,005 French employees.
Disposable cups are falling out of favour
The verdict is clear. The results of the Ifop study show that 80% of employees are in favour of banning disposable cups in the workplace.
Although paper cups are often presented as an alternative to plastic cups, they are far from convincing all French employees. For 52% of respondents, paper cups are not an environmentally friendly solution.
As a result, 60% of employees already use a reusable solution, such as a mug or cup, for their daily drinks.
Reusable, yes — but it still needs to be clean
Although a majority of employees already use reusable solutions, cleaning them remains a hassle.
This may partly explain why 53% of employees still use disposable products, even though most of them are opposed to them.
Hand washing: widely practised but unpopular with employees
The study conducted with Ifop also looked at how employees who have adopted reusable solutions clean their containers.
The findings show that this task remains unpopular and is often not done properly. For 41% of employees, cleaning their mug is a chore.
The intention to clean is certainly there, as 31% of employees wash their cups between each use. However, too few do so properly.
In fact, 88% of employees simply rinse their mug in the bathroom sink.
Employees also highlight the environmental impact of this practice: 55% believe that washing by hand uses too much water.
Emptying a dishwasher is not a task employees want to do at work
Using a dishwasher at work remains relatively uncommon. Only 8% of employees clean their reusable containers in a dishwasher.
Why? Most likely because this task is seen as an inconvenience by many employees. In fact, 67% of employees say they do not want to empty a dishwasher at work.
About the Ifop survey:The Ifop survey was commissioned by Auum and conducted through an online self-administered questionnaire from March 9 to 14, 2023.
The survey was carried out among a sample of 1,005 people representative of the French employed population aged 18 and over.
The representativeness of the sample was ensured using the quota method based on gender, age, occupation, company size and business sector, after stratification by region and urban area category.
Discover the full study:https://www.ifop.com/publication/la-consommation-de-boissons-en-entreprise/
About Auum:Founded in 2019, industrial company Auum — an acronym for “Arrêtons l’Usage Unique Maintenant” (“Let’s Stop Single Use Now”) — has a mission to prevent billions of disposable cups from being thrown away in France every year.
To achieve this, the company helps businesses replace disposable products with reusable and environmentally friendly solutions.
Aware of the challenges associated with cleaning reusable containers, Auum developed its patented and connected auum-S technology. With a single action, the solution can clean, disinfect and dry a glass in just a few seconds, using only a small amount of water and no chemicals.
Certified “Origine France Garantie”, auum-S is available as a rental solution with integrated installation and maintenance services.
Since 2021, Auum has been the cleaning solution chosen by major international companies.
More information:https://www.auum.com/presse
