From May 12th to May 15th 2025, the REMEDIES project was represented at the SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting in Vienna by two project partners: University of Maribor (UM) and VITO. Our team presented a poster prepared as a collaborative effort by UM, Alchemia-nova Greece, BIO-MI, and AITIIP, where we shared new findings on sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics in the events sector. The poster presented a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) of reusable bio-based cups as a replacement for single-use polypropylene cups at a large-scale music festival.
Results showed that switching to reusable bio-based cups can reduce global warming potential by 88%, along with significant reductions across all other environmental impact categories. While the washing of reusable cups does require energy and water, these impacts are far outweighed by the savings from avoiding the production and disposal of fossil-based plastics.
This work highlights how targeted interventions and circular solutions can bring measurable benefits in high-consumption contexts like festivals—contributing to the mission of reducing plastic pollution in line with REMEDIES’ goals.
Jan Puhar (UM), dr. Milica Velimirovic (VITO)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Annamaria Vujanović (UM), Xiaoyu Zhang (VITO), Jan Puhar (UM)
