LIGHT MY FIRE WELCOMES NEW EU DIRECTIVE

LIGHT MY FIRE WELCOMES NEW EU DIRECTIVE THAT PHASES OUT SINGLE USE PLASTICS

Since July 3, it is forbidden to introduce new disposable plastic products on the market. This is in accordance with the EU Single Use Plastics Directive. Light My Fire has been working for a world free of single use items since the company was founded 25 years ago and welcomes the directive as a step in the right direction.

We must immediately stop throwing out plastic rubbish in nature. Nature, and the oceans in particular, have been enormously damaged by a completely unacceptable behavior on the part of humanity for far too long. The single use plastics directive is welcome. Now it’s just a matter of not replacing the disposable items in plastic with disposable items in other materials. We need to learn a completely new behavior, says Calill Odqvist Jagusch, CEO and owner of Light My Fire.

Light My Fire produces reusable products in biobased plastic. At the forefront is the iconic Spork, the combined fork, spoon and knife in one that is the optimal replacement for the disposable cutlery. The Spork is also available in durable titanium.

In addition to the ban on certain products, the EU directive contains guidelines for an expanded recycling system of food and beverage packaging. Light My Fire’s reusable lunch boxes and mugs are already used in several different recycling systems. Most recently in collaboration with Got Event at the UEFA fi nal in Gothenburg.

The system with the reusable boxes became a food for thought for users and a hot topic among our European colleagues. The collaboration reduced the need for disposable items and thus reduced the amount of waste. We will definitely want to be involved in testing and developing systems like the one we have tried now. There is a need to find a simple deposit system to minimize waste of products. But there is no doubt that in the future we will have an increased focus on reusable products at our events. Most important of all is to dare to try even if it feels challenging and diffi cult at first, says Johanna Gadd, sustainability manager at Got Event.

FACTS: THE EU SINGLE USE PLASTICS DIRECTIVE

July 3, 2021, the directive bans a number of plastic articles: cotton swabs, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers for drinks, balloon sticks, products made of oxo-degradable plastic *, food containers in expanded polystyrene (eg styrofoam) with or without lids, intended to be consumed directly and without further preparation, beverage containers and mugs in expanded polystyrene (eg styrofoam) including corks and lids.

Contact: press@lightmyfire.com

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(Photo credit: Elin Rein)