Dripl asks workers' help to address plastic pollution in their workplace

Brussels, October 21, 2022 – “Within a few hours, the entire contents of this vending machine will be (plastic) waste.” This is one of the messages commuters have been reading since today via magnets on the drinks vending machines in Belgium's major train stations. The magnets come from Dripl, a Ghent-Brussels startup that makes plastic-free drinks easy for companies with its package-free drinks vending machine. Now, people can also request a magnet from them to hang on the vending machine at their workplace. With this campaign, Dripl hopes to encourage employees to make a difference in their own workplace.

We produce approximately 300 million tons of plastic waste annually, equivalent to the weight of the entire world population. The beverage industry alone still produces a staggering 1 million plastic bottles per minute. In Flanders, we open approximately 1.2 billion plastic bottles annually. If we don't take action, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish, warns the UN.

"Introducing a deposit on cans and PET bottles—as Flemish Environment Minister Demir recently advocated—is a step in the right direction, but the problem is unfortunately much bigger," says Colin Deblonde, CEO and co-founder of Dripl. "Plastic packaging achieves a recycling rate of around 50% in Belgium, compared to only 9% globally. As long as we don't all drastically reduce our packaging consumption, we'll just be cycling with a flat tire. The best packaging remains the packaging that doesn't exist."  

Making offices plastic-free

Many of these disposable packaging are opened and thrown away in the workplace.

Colin Deblonde: "In many companies, the packaging problem is not addressed. On the contrary, still too often you bump into classic drink dispensers or refrigerators full of bottles and cans, which means that those companies - often with good intentions - unfortunately contribute to the waste mountain. We hope that with our action, which should mainly reach employees, people will be inspired to make do with less disposable packaging."  

"The best packaging is and remains the packaging that does not exist" – Colin Deblonde, CEO and co-founder of Dripl

Endlessly relayable message

Dripl hopes commuters will eventually take the magnets home with them or request one themselves to hang in their office. "We deliberately chose magnets instead of stickers. A magnet is more expensive to produce than a regular sticker, yes, but it ensures that the message can be reused or passed on endlessly. And that's also our goal: to continue to inspire people," concludes Colin Deblonde.