The city district was one of the first in the Czech Republic to introduce a returnable system at its Christmas markets. The system is constantly being improved to make it as convenient as possible for visitors. Last year, the city council introduced new cups featuring ten original crocodile motifs, which proved very popular at last year’s Christmas market in Brno. A total of 152,000 were sold.
“We received positive feedback from the public on the Christmas cups, both in terms of functionality and aesthetics. Many market visitors kept them as valuable souvenirs. This year, we also plan to use returnable cups at the Brno Festival (Slavnosti Brno). A special theme will be created for each event, including the MotoGP event in July. The new cups will be introduced soon and I believe they will be as popular as the Christmas ones,” said Ludmila Oulehlová (ANO political party), the first Deputy Mayor of the Brno-střed district, who is responsible for the environment.
The city district will receive a total of CZK 2.7 million from the Ministry of the Environment’s Cohesion Fund, which is co-financed by the European Union, to cover the costs of operating the returnable system and purchasing cups. The subsidy will cover around half of the total costs. The town hall currently has 250,000 returnable cups available for the Christmas markets. For the Brno Festival (Slavnosti Brno) on the Freedom Square (náměstí Svobody), 50,000 0.5 litre cups have been prepared. If necessary, the city council is prepared to increase the number of cups, as it did during last year’s Christmas markets. The returnable system reduces waste and helps others. The city district has long supported the Daruj kelímek (Donate the Cup) project at the Christmas markets, through which people can directly support charitable and non-profit organisations by returning their cups. More than CZK 4.5 million was raised for charity at last year’s Christmas markets, which is the most ever.
