According to a news report in AMOnline.com, the European Vending Association (EVA) will be participating at the Green Week exhibition to be held in Brussels, Belgium from June 12-15.

By participating at the event, the EVA hopes to demonstrate the proactive nature of the vending industry when it comes to matters related to the environment. Many EVA members have taken and are continuing to take environment-friendly measures, and this event is seen as an opportunity to share these endeavours with other stakeholders.

 Some of the steps taken by EVA members, as listed from this news article, include:  

• Full compliance with the WVEEE and RoHS Directives;


• Adoption of an EVA protocol to measure the energy consumption of vending machines (EVA-EMP EVA-Energy Measurement Protocol);


• Recycling schemes for cups or prods;


• Increasing number of companies ISO 14001 certified or taking measures to become more environmentally-friendly;


• Investing in R&D in the areas of eco-efficiency and refrigeration;


• Paper cups or biodegradable cups as alternatives to traditional plastic cups;


• Enhancing the value of plastic cups at the end of their lifecycle;


• PET used for the packaging of soft drinks and bottled water


• Better packaging of machines to limit packaging material; use of smaller or recyclable pallets;


• LED lights are being introduced in new machines;


• Vending machines placed outdoors are now made with special glass with an isolating structure, to limit the energy and heat generated by the sun.

More information on environment-specific initiatives by the EVA can be found on their website. (www.vending-europe.eu),