Borealis and FSG Returnables have helped the Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) introduce a reusable cup system to its hospital cafés, a move expected to reduce waste and lower Extended Producer Responsibility costs.
As part of the UK’s National Health Service, NHFT previously turned to single-use compostable packaging for its café operations. This approach was found to generate ‘significant’ waste and carbon emissions during production, transport, and disposal, and increase purchasing costs due to continual product replacement.
Now NHFT has worked with FSG Returnables to introduce a reusable food and drink packaging system across its seven hospital cafés. This includes Zero Waste Cups, a mono-polypropylene solution that uses material from Borealis’ Daploy high-melt-strength portfolio.
Produced using Bockatech’s EcoCore technology, the foamed polypropylene structure is ‘ultra-lightweight’ while providing the necessary strength and thermal performance for hot beverages. The cups are said to perform reliably and maintain stability through frequent handling, as well as heat and detergents through 1,000+ NHS-grade industrial wash cycles.
Additionally, the cups can be recycled in existing plastic waste streams at end-of-life.
“At FSG Returnables, we chose to supply the Zero Waste Cup because of its EcoCore technology and outstanding material performance,” explains Lynn Johnson, managing director at FSG Returnables. “The double-walled, foam-insulated design is lightweight yet extremely durable, making it ideal for high-use reuse systems. Using high-quality polypropylene supplied by Borealis gives us confidence in both long-term durability and recyclability.
The system is designed to be easy for staff and visitors to use, and to operate reliably across multiple hospital sites. It has replaced single-use cups and containers, with a short-term token reward scheme implemented during the initial rollout to encourage participation.
With FSG Returnables leading on-site engagement and communication, the system has reportedly been established throughout the cafés. According to Borealis, ‘most people’ have opted to keep, wash and reuse their cups rather than exchanging them, and the system is expected to maintain high return rates through ease of use and consistency.
Over the next three years, the reuse system is anticipated to utilize 898 reusable cups instead of approximately 175,500 disposable cups. It is also set to unlock lower, ‘green-rated’ fees under the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework, achieving cost savings of £27,582 (€31,871.14).
Looking ahead, NHFT and FSG Returnables plan to explore further reusable solutions for the NHS, including systems for patient meals.
“Projects like this show what’s possible when circular systems are supported by high-performance materials,” says Peter Voortmans, vice president Marketing Consumer Products at Borealis. “That’s why we’ve invested more than €100 million to expand our Daploy High Melt Strength polypropylene production in Burghausen, Germany. It ensures our partners have reliable access to fully recyclable, lightweight materials that make reuse systems like this practical, affordable, and scalable.”
“This has been an incredible step forward by NHFT in our journey to protect the planet,” adds Joanne Fitzgerald, deputy general manager at NHFT. “With the expertise of Lynn Johnson from FSG, we’re moving closer to our Net Zero goals.
“Six sites are now running like a sustainability powerhouse, and the transition has been seamless. Staff, visitors, and patients alike have embraced this change wholeheartedly!”
In a previous initative, Veolia sought to recycle ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Tesco’s bread bags, crisp packets, and other soft plastics into outdoor furniture for the NHS Property Services. Items like trellising, decking, raised beds, seating, and tables would be donated to the NHSPS Social Prescribing Programme to establish new gardens in community locations across the UK, which could then be used by patients and the local community.
Elsewhere, Borealis recently worked with Messe Düsseldorf to run a reusable cup pilot for hot and cold drinks served during K 2025. We recently spoke to Philip Knapen, Application Development and Technical Service Manager for Consumer Products, to learn more about the core learnings from the project.
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