Green Café Alliance failed to go green

by Season Ho and Dennis Hung

The Green Cafe Alliance is committed to encouraging the public to reduce waste and to use less disposable cutlery. Its members, however, were recently found to have gone back on the commitments they made. The Environmental Protection Department admitted failing to monitor the Alliance's work,

while most Alliance members declined to comment on its effectiveness.

Our reporter visited 5 shops of each member café chains of the Alliance, and discovered that green measures were not implemented. Disposable cutlery is readily available at coffee bars without any member of staff monitoring the consumption. Most cafes are using paper cups even for dine-in orders, and no reminder to use less disposable cutlery has been given by any of their staff.

At Starbucks cafés, for example, there is no reminder at all to remind customers to think twice before taking disposable cutlery, except ‘green tips’ like “Help us save the environment! Please use less disposable utensils!” posted up somewhere near the coffee bar.

Disposable cutlery is distributed freely in some café with a reminder next to it.

Is the Alliance ‘just a gimmick’?

Some frequent customers expressed that they have never heard of the Alliance. Alice Chan, a loyal customer of Pacific Coffee Company, said that it is usually the customer who asked to replace paper cups with mugs but not the baristas, ‘most of the time, they give us paper cups even for dine-in orders, perhaps they don’t want to do the washing-up or they are just too busy to do so’.

Another customer, Ben Chan, said he never received any green tips or promotion during his visits to the cafés.

Asked if he thought that the cafés are eco-friendly enough, Chan described them as ‘completely not eco-friendly”, and added: “I doubt whether the Alliance is just a gimmick used by the government.”

Former staff admitted difficulties in working out green measures

Viann Chan Wai-yan, a former barista of Starbucks Coffee, said there are some internal green guidelines for frontline staff.  Firstly, staff should ask customers to use coffee mugs rather than paper cups proactively when they are dining in. Secondly, staff should take the initiative to remind customers to use less disposable cutlery, as well as tissue paper even if they are recyclable.

However, she admitted that it is difficult to check frontline staff in all branches for compliance with the guidelines, as they are just some voluntary incentives. ‘Not a must and not something compulsory for the staffs,’ she added.

Disposable paper and plastic cups are used even for dine-in orders.

Lack of communication shown between café groups and the government

The reporter tried to contact all 6 member café groups of the Alliance. Pret A Manger expressed that they have already stopped working with the EPD on this campaign in 2011, one year after the Alliance was formed.

Wincy So, the PR officer of Starbucks Coffee, highlighted their other green initiatives without giving any concrete response the effectiveness of the Alliance. They claimed that they only use disposable cutlery for takeaway orders, and it is their ‘usual practice’ to use mugs for dine-in orders. Also, she highlighted that Starbucks was ‘invited’ by the EPDas one of the members of the Alliance instead of initiating it

Meanwhile, the staff of Causeway Bay’s McCafé emphasised that they have been encouraging customers to use less paper cups by giving $3 back to those who brought their own cup or own tumbler, and that they also help frequent customers to store their tumblers and cups in the café.

Nevertheless, other 3 café groups, including agnès b. CAFÉ L.P.G., Caffé HABITU, and Pacific Coffee Company, declined to comment on the issue.

The Environmental Protection Department, which initiated the formation of the Alliance, admitted its failure to monitor the Alliance’s progress in fulfilling its objective. "Our role is to merely motivate waste reduction and to encourage green practices in the industry," said Emily Ip, the spokesperson of EPD in a phone interview. She also explained that there are no updates as to the Alliance’s progress because it was formed "long time ago".

Legislator suggests complete ban on disposable cutlery in café

Responding to the ineffectiveness of the Alliance, vice chairman of the Panel on Environmental Affairs, Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, doubted whether the Alliance is really promoting green living. “If the Alliance really wants to promote waste reduction, the cafes should not provide any disposable cutlery to their customers. This is the most direct and effective way to reduce waste.”

He also suggested restaurants to charge for the disposable cutlery taken by customers, and urged the government to do better in monitoring the progress of these campaigns.

According to the report on USA today, in the US, Starbucks alone sells over 4 million coffee drinks daily, and approximately 3 billion Starbucks coffee cups are sent to the landfill each year. In Hong Kong, where there is an annual amount of 5 million tonnes of municipal solid waste generated according to the Environment Bureau, reducing solid waste from the source is necessary. The massive amount of waste generated by the catering industry has become an increasing concern in the city which is famous for her variety of foods and beverages.

The Green Café Alliance was formed in 2010, under the "Minimising Waste, Maximising the Future" campaign organised by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Six café groups, including agnès b. CAFÉ L.P.G., Caffé HABITU, McCafé, Pacific Coffee Company, Pret A Manger and Starbucks Coffee Hong Kong, are members of the Alliance, with a total of more than 400 stores. As reported in an official press release dated 11 July, 2010 when the GCA is formed, it seeks to "encourage members of the public to use less disposable cutlery, reduce waste and to share green tips with them."

	agnès b. CAFÉ L.P.G.	Caffé HABITU	McCafé	Pacific Coffee Company	Pret A Manger	Starbucks Coffee
No. of Stores	10+	17+	98+	190+	15+	130+
From the visits of our reporters
Using mugs for dine-in orders	✔	✔	✔	X	X	X
Providing green tips in the cafés	X	X	X	X	✔	✔
Reminding customers to think twice before using disposable cutlery	X	X	X	X	X	X
Other voluntary green measures (not included in the GCA commitment)
Discount for customers who brought their own cups	X	X	X	✔	X	✔
Using biodegradable materials for disposable cutlery	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔