Chip shop ditches polystyrene box in favour of eco-friendly alternative

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An Ayr fish and chip shop are taking a leaf from the past by ditching plastic to serve their foodie delights in.They may not be using newspaper to wrap fish suppers in anymore but Marco’s Fish & Chips Ayr have swapped out polystyrene supper boxes in favour of a more environmentally friendly alternative.Their popular dishes are now served in biodegradable boxes and bags instead of polystyrene — ahead of the ban on most single-use plastics coming into effect in June — in order to do their part for the planet.Marco Luni, 60, who runs Marco’s chippy alongside business partner Robin Scott, said: “Obviously it’s going to become law soon so I just thought we’d get ahead of the game.“The stuff we were using previously took hundreds of years to break down and degrade, but these ones they don’t.“Plus it looks much better and the food keeps better in it as well.“We’ve had a lot of good feedback from customers saying the food keeps better in the new boxes.”Before launching his own business in 2012, Marco worked at Ayr’s Wellington chip shop and used to wrap suppers in unused copies of the Ayrshire Post.He said: “They used to dump papers at the shop and we’d use them as wrapping.“That was the ultimate recycling because it did Ayrshire Post a favour and did us a favour.“But then obviously they said it wasn’t hygienic because of the ink.Marco’s — who can go through three tonnes of potatoes per week in the height of the summer — expanded their business last year by opening up Marco’s Extras in the unit next door, offering gluten free delights including tempura wraps, loaded fries and fish suppers.Marco said: “We had so many customers coming in and asking us to do it.“But the problem being you just can’t separate it in one shop — I know