Five million single-use plastics (plates and cutlery) will no longer be used and disposed of annually in the food court of Mall of the Sun, north of Guayaquil. The shopping center established an agreement with the company Green Footprint for five years to supply reusable ceramic tableware and stainless steel cutlery to its customers.
Users receive the food in the dishes and after finishing eating they approach with their trays to the five collection points called EcoSpot which are strategically located in the food court. Specialized and trained personnel receive the utensils and take them to the industrial washing and disinfecting point.
“We have always sought to replicate our model of sustainable food courts throughout the country, especially so that plastics do not end up in the sea. In September 2021 we reached an agreement with Mall del Sol and we were working on the importation of equipment and agreements with all restaurants. We did a pilot from January 28 and the official inauguration was on February 7”, indicates Andrea Garzón, general manager of Huella Verde.
Although Huella Verde has implemented this sustainable model in Paseo San Francisco (Quito), Mall de los Andes (Ambato) and Mall El Jardín (Quito), Mall del Sol is the largest and the one with the highest influx of people. It is estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 users eat daily in this shopping center.
Sofía Naranjo, commercial and marketing del Mall del Sol, states that this change was made to meet several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We have aligned ourselves with SDG 8, which deals with decent work and growth, 11, which is sustainable cities and communities, and 12, which is responsible production and consumption. We are the first shopping center in Guayaquil that promotes this theme for the care of the planet. In addition, we want our customers to also feel part of this contribution to the planet.”, he points out.
The restaurants are the ones that will bear the cost of the crockery and cleaning and not the final consumer, adds Garzón. At first there were doubts, but after the first week of the implementation of the system they dissipated: “Several brands used compostable materials that are more than expensive, but with our service they even spend less or the same, but now there is that sustainable twist.”
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The washing and disinfection is carried out with industrial machinery and with all quality standards, emphasizes Garzón. “People think that it is the restaurants themselves that do the washing, but we have explained that we are the ones who take care of that and that we have the most powerful dishwasher system in the country. We also wash the trays. People have welcomed the change.”.
Add that there is no risk of transmission of diseases such as COVID-19, for example. He affirms that disposable utensils are the ones that would have this type of risk, since minutes after being used they are thrown in the garbage and the cutlery of a sick person can be left with saliva and mix with the fluids generated by the waste and the personnel that handle them have a risk of getting infected. However, washing ceramic tableware eliminates “viruses and bacteria”.
The EcoSpot also classifies the organic (food scraps), inorganic and recyclable material that arrives in the trays. The cleaning staff of the shopping center was trained by Huella Verde to carry out this process.
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The organic material is delivered to an agricultural project that is responsible for the production of soldier fly meal for the production of animal feed and fertilizer. “It is important that the cycle is closed. In addition, everything recyclable is delivered to the Gira initiative, which is in charge of the recycling process.”, affirms Naranjo.
For the washing of utensils in Mall del Sol, ten jobs were created that are under the Huella Verde payroll. In total the company currently employs 32 people. Among the four shopping centers where Huella Verde is located, it is estimated that twelve million single-use plastics will no longer be discarded in 2022. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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