In Quebec, thousands of tons of pressed cardboard pizza boxes end up in the garbage every year. The quantity thrown away with the greasy membrane is so huge that there is no official count. In this flood, a restaurant innovates with returnable boxes.
Between orders, one of the owners of the Nina Pizza Napolitaine restaurant in the Saint-Roch district of Quebec City thought it made no sense to throw away so much cardboard. Her establishment is one of the few, if not the only one in the entire province, to offer its customers an exchangeable and reusable pizza box. In a polypropylene container.
“During the pandemic, I was shocked to see a real mountain of pizza boxes stacked in our premises,” says Pénélope Lachapelle, co-owner of the brand. “I had the idea of a closable, reusable plate when we created our pizzeria. We have a sustainable development policy, so it was natural to introduce it.”
PROVIDED BY NINA PIZZA NAPOLITANE
At Nina Pizza Napolitaine, it is possible to purchase a circular box the size of a 12-inch pizza or less.
Whether ordering online or on site, on Saint-Anselme Street, you can buy a circular box the size of a 12-inch pizza or less. The box has the particularity of retaining heat for a long time. It is reusable and 100% recyclable. The restaurateur of Nina Pizza Napolitaine sells it for $15.
I offer it at the purchase price, I don’t make money from it. We can sell up to 900 cardboard boxes per week in our two branches, the reusable box is a way to reduce waste. However, people don’t adhere so easily.
Penelope Lachapelle, co-owner of the restaurant Nina Pizza Napolitaine
“It’s hard to explain, it would take a movement, a common political will. Right now, I’m trying to increase interest by adding a loyalty card that gives you a free pizza after a certain number of purchases.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY PIZZYCLE
The PIZZycle pizza box is 100% reusable and recyclable.
Not just in Quebec
This pizza box problem is not unique to Quebec. Worldwide, consumption is estimated at 951 pizzas every second, for 30 billion pizzas devoured each year, according to the Pizza 2023 index from Gira Conseil.1a Parisian firm specializing in out-of-home food consumption in France.
Obviously, not all pizzas are served in cardboard boxes, but the quantities consumed give an idea of what is sent to landfill, recycling or composting. At Recyc-Québec, it is recommended that when throwing away your pizza box, cut it up and send the portion soaked in grease to the compost and the clean cardboard to the recycling.
Without having the precise number, the company indicates that 312,500 tons of corrugated cardboard are recycled each year in Quebec, including egg cartons and others. That’s nearly half of all paper and cardboard, specifies Daphnée Champagne, of Recyc-Québec.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DOMINO’S
Several pizzerias are opting for recyclable boxes made from recycled cardboard.
A problem of size
The small company behind the reusable box at Nina Pizza Napolitaine is called PIZZycle. It’s the concept of a young startup from Germany. Reached by email, co-founder Marlene Bruch explains that the company is so small that it hasn’t yet made a breakthrough outside of Europe. In her territory, some restaurants offer it, including Peetri Pizza.
In Quebec, several pizzerias, including Domino’s, are relying on recyclable boxes… made from recycled cardboard.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mishel Wong, CEO of Bo Paq
Mishel Wong is the general manager of Bo Paq, a Quebec company that offers a reusable dish service in restaurants, establishments, large events, etc. The biggest obstacle to the concept, according to her? The size of the container. And the space to install a return bin in restaurants.
“People probably think that the pizza box has less of an environmental impact. It’s the lesser of two evils. We have a square model of the right size available at our place, but you can’t find it in any restaurant.”
PHOTO ARCHIVES, THE NEW YORK TIMES
In New York’s Central Park, a prototype of a trash can for pizza boxes appeared this spring.
New York trash can
In New York, in Central Park, a prototype of a trash can for pizza boxes appeared this spring in the picnic area of the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visitors are asked to insert the box after removing the leftovers, the crusts. The pilot project aims to improve recycling, but also to curb the ardor of rats fond of greasy leftovers.
Central Park Conservancy media relations manager Kat Brady says it’s too early to provide data on how many pizza boxes have been collected. Each bin can hold about 50 boxes, more if they’re crushed. The pilot project will continue in full swing this fall, with park staff emptying the bin two or three times a day.
1. Check the Pizza Index
Visit the PIZZycle website
Read an article about New York’s pizza box trash can
Learn more
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- 47,000 tons
- This is the quantity of corrugated cardboard eliminated or thrown away last year in Quebec, which represents 2.4% of all materials eliminated in the residential sector.
Source: Recyc-Québec