Tuberooney

[PabloV8Haggis]

So the writing is on the wall, every man and his dog is pointing the finger at plastic! The whole of Europe takes the stuff and dumps it in an area...... way out in the Atlantic and dumps millions of tons of the stuff.... still it is an easy target for the media to point the finger at plastic (and perhaps they are right to do so) however, what is the future for us? A couple of pence tax per tub to reduce the ever reducing profit margin or, reducing the ever reducing contents (it is not just toblerones that are shrinking) or is there a plan A or plan B to address this before it lands on our laps as a panic measure?
Iceland have started with a five year plan... what plan do the suppliers have?

[Tufty]

I have been thinking about this a lot recently.
Being somewhat of an eco warrior it is one of the parts of the tower vending that Troubles me.
It seems crazy that roughly 5% of our sale price goes on something which will be discarded and potentially cause so many environmental issues. Scary to think the number of tubs we all sell per month,some of us will sell literally thousands. My sales are very modest but when I imagine all the empty tubs generated by my sales it just doesn't sit well.It is actually one of the reasons I decided to start with some bulk machines too as there seems to be a lot less wasted packaging.

I am definitely not practical enough to think of an ideal solution but I think there must be a way our current towers could be modified to either just hold small packets which drop down like the larger electric vendors do or even some form of recyclable cardboard that still attracts customers.

One of my top sellers has been Squashies and it just seems crazy that the tub contains one product already in packaging which then gets put in a tub we pay more money for only for the consumer to want rid of.

This has just been a bit of a rambling post with no real substance but I do hope the big 2 suppliers have been investigating options that lose the plastic without huge costs to us.

[PabloV8Haggis]

A ramble, I am giving the heads up on a possible future problem. As an operator who uses many pots, I am asking has anyone got a possible solution to the inevitable. I like to plan ahead, way ahead so want a solution in mind as a plan A and plan B. Hence the post. It is not scaremongering as it is asking for a solution. The sweet towers we use are reliant on the plastic tubs otherwise I would not be using them. Tubs are recyclable, but not sure if many customers do this to keeps things in. I see them as a necessary embarrassment and ask if any solutions are on the table. With the current thinking on plastic is it wrong to ask for other considerations.
I read an article many years ago, before I was in this business, that an area in the middle of the Atlantic was designated as A dumping ground (legal) by all of Europe and indeed America, we dump a ridiculous amount of waste in that area. Sky news of course does not report that, but pushes the plastic debate of plastic being the scourge of oceans. The dumping that Europe has been dumping for the last x decades is starting to surface and spread across the oceans. This is a problem that is not going away for a long time, we sow what we reap!
Back on post, does anyone, as previously asked have any idea on the way forward with alternative pots?

By the way Tufty, since you are self packing, do you have a certificate to do so and have county approval, how difficult was it?

[Tufty]

Hi Pablo,

I was meaning my post was a ramble not yours lol apologies for any confusion

Fully agree with what you are saying.

I am not a self packer,was it the squashies thing that made you think that? I was just meaning the product that comes from tubz vending is already in a wrapper then a tub,I think it seems silly.

[PabloV8Haggis]

BTW, plastic really is the least of our problems. Google..... what area of the atlantic is used for dumping waste!

The UK has been dumping more nuclear waste than anyone for the last 50 years, not a great distance from the UK, in containers? Perhaps plastic containers

And as for munitions, well you really, really do not want to know!

[PabloV8Haggis]

Sorry, Laurie, I thought you self fill beavers (OMG, having a heart attack, thinking Frank Drebin in the movie naked gun in typing that!), you need to speak with Style or Central or Steve on that, so many rules/laws etc

[Tufty]

Sorry, Laurie, I thought you self fill beavers (OMG, having a heart attack, thinking Frank Drebin in the movie naked gun in typing that!), you need to speak with Style or Central or Steve on that, so many rules/laws etc

Ohoh! You are right Pablo!
I do have the bulk machines, if I am honest I was under the impression that these weren’t subject to as many regulations as I’m not actually packing anything at home or splitting bags etc. I actually bought the machines from a former member on here and from what he said and what I could find on google I didn’t think I needed check out.

I only have a few on locations but I have been placing them and then pouring in the stock from fresh bags. The skittles bulk comes in handy refill size so I am never needing to carry anything that has been opened so I’m not sure what I could actually get certified in but I will start a new topic on it now and find out.

I will keep you posted!

[PabloV8Haggis]

Laurie, I cannot help on this front because I do not do it. Ask Steve at Snackmore, he is a good source of information!

Will be interested, in case I go down that route.

Cheers

Pablo

[radical.richard]

Trouble is the towers need the physical size and structure of the tubs in order to vend correctly.

Before the plastic issue became so political, one thought I had on the used tubs is to collect them and use them for self packing, not certain how to do it though, thought about a 'recycling bin' attached to the tower stand, haven't tried it, but can imagine it would get full of all sorts of stuff, that would make it impossible to recycle the tubs, might be an option though.

I did have a conversation with a barbers when I put the tower in, as they were concerned about recycling, and I said I would happily take any tubs back from them if they wanted to save them for me, so far they have saved exactly 0 for me.

No doubt paper tubs can be created, but at what price, like the drinking straws, paper ones exist that bio degrade, but millions of plastic ones are used instead as they are cheaper to produce.

Don't know what the solution is, but with plastic recycling and the sugar tax, we may just have to look at vending toys instead.

Does anyone have any other things they vend via the towers other than sweets, toys and Pringles. I thought about cheap Jewellery from China, can pick it up on eBay at about 30p an item inc postage, if you are patient.

[PabloV8Haggis]

Hi Richard,
My original post is a little humorous in a way at the establishment, the are very symbolic in what they want to do, but pick on the easy options, government has been doing it for years. I mean shopping bags, all those 5p for something that costs 0.01 to make! Attacking the plastic retail market getting them to address an issue to make it look as though government cares or is doing something. What about all the plastic components in cars/household products/clothing and the list goes on. They are very crafty, they already rake in billions through the VAT everyone pays. Could very well use some of that to build proper recycling depots that address the issue, that is to easy.
Was speaking to a collection chap sometime ago, he told me, blue bins, green bins whatever bins, sometimes goes to the same place what! And I like an idiot rinse things out still, make sure correct items go in correct bin still, someone's having a giraffe
Like I said previously, the UK has been a big problem for over 50 years dumping high toxic nuclear waste in the oceans, dumped more than the Americans in the oceans, the Americans, god bless them, have dumped in inside mountains! Hope ruskies never hit those mountains with a nuke as it will be a double whammy
The plastic tubs might be a problem, did not say it will, was looking for operators thoughts on a solution if such a thing exists then I know what to do in the future. It was panic thing, I mean, could we lose sales because Joe public has become anti plastic!