The Billie is a rent-a-cup made of plastic. The plastic it is made of, polypropylene, is completely renewable, according to the Belgian initiators. But, fossil-based nonetheless. The ‘reuse’ is in the cup itself. The user buys his coffee and pays an extra euro deposit for the cup. The cup can be reused, and eventually be returned in exchange for the 1 euro deposit.
Too steep
This is expected to reduce the number of cups. The introduction of the cup is an initiative of Green Office, which aims to offer a cheaper alternative to the KeepCup (9.95 euros) that was introduced at the behest of students three years ago. According to spokesperson Emmy van Daele of Green Office, the cost of the KeepCup is too steep for many students. ‘The use of the KeepCup levelled off, so we searched for an alternative.”
An alternative was found in the cheaper Billie. The cup would have been introduced earlier, but the corona crisis foiled the planned introduction. The Sustainability Week that begins this Monday is a new opportunity for the cup. But, as stated, Billie is not the first initiative on campus to fight the disposable cup.
There is a veritable heap of alternatives to plastic cups. In 2014, WUR officed replaced the plastic machine coffee cups with a more sustainable option. Here, the Maas (espresso) coffee machines dispense coffee in paper cups. But, in the education buildings (Forum, Orion, Leeuwenborch) this isn’t easy. The Douwe Egberts coffee machines in use there are unable to handle paper cups.
KeepCup
The KeepCup seemed a successful alternative at first. The strikingly coloured plastic cup costs 9.95 euros, but using the cup was rewarded with a 10 cent discount per cup of coffee from the caterers and a 5 cent discount from the coffee vending machines. These machines normally dispense a standard white plastic cup.
However, this initiative is also thwarted by corona. The KeepCup is temporarily not welcome in Forum, as the corona measures forbid the catering personnel from touching the cup. Forum is therefore not partaking in the Billie initiative. In Orion, strict hygiene measures are adjusted by refilling the cup without touching it.