RiVending
RiVending is an innovative cycle of recovery and recycling of polystyrene cups, stirrers and PET bottles for vending machines.
The project was designed by CONFIDA (Italian Automatic Distribution Association), together with COREPLA (National Consortium for the Collection and Recycling of Plastic packages) and UNIONPLAST (Italian federation of companies operating in the transformation of plastic).
The end goal of the project is the "cup2cup" phase that aims to use recycled plastic to produce new cups for vending machines. The first recycled plastic cup for vending machines has already been manufactured. The next step will be to start laboratory tests to obtain authorisation for food contact so that the product can be placed on the market.
With this project, the vending industry is responding to the European objectives of reducing single-use plastics and creating a true circular economy. By reusing the same material to produce new cups, the recycling rate goes up while the amount of virgin plastic placed on the market goes down.
The RiVending project is very simple: once you have finished your coffee bought from a vending machine, you are invited to throw the cup and stirrer into a specially designed recycling bin that isolates them from other plastic packaging and simplifies the selection process. This means that specific, high quality plastic can be recovered from which many new products can be created.
- Launched in 2019, the RiVending project is already present all over Italy with 6 000 bins installed in schools, universities, public offices and companies
- Big brands and major Italian companies have joined the project by installing recycling bins in their companies as well
- To date, by recycling thousands of plastic cups, it has been possible to produce 5 000 bowls for animals which have been distributed to ENPA (Italian National Association for Animal Protection) for its kennels throughout Italy.