Why reusables
Most party plates are used for an hour and then thrown away. Here’s why we hire out reusable ones instead.
It started with the sums
In 2019, Tillie Mabbutt, who started Frome Eco Party Kit, worked out how much a child’s party calendar throws away. Two parties a month, with about 30 children at each, is 120 plates and cups, all used once. Her answer: hire everything for the party table, use it, bring it back.
Why not paper plates?
Paper plates are hard to recycle. They’re often made of mixed materials, and once there’s food on them, recycling centres can’t take them. So most go in general waste, to landfill or to be burned.
What about compostable plates?
Most “compostable” plates only break down in an industrial composter, not in a home compost bin or in landfill. And they’re still made and shipped to be used once.
What it adds up to
Every hire is counted item by item. Each cup, plate and bowl, each piece of cutlery and each tablecloth is one single-use item nobody had to buy and throw away.
3,727 single-use items kept out of the bin at parties in and around Frome, Somerset, since August 2025
Why plastic?
The problem is plastic that’s used once, not plastic that lasts. Bamboo and wheat tableware sound greener, but they’re held together with a plastic resin and break more easily, so they need replacing more often. More on this in the FAQs
And for your party
One box
Plates, cups, bowls, jugs, platters, tablecloths and bunting, ready for the table.
Colour
Rainbow, pastel or your own mix, chosen item by item, so the table looks bright and done.
Sturdy
Cups that don’t go soggy and plates that don’t fold under a slice of cake.
No bin bag
Pack it up and bring it back, or add washing up and skip that too.
Try it for your next party
Kits for 20 guests or more, collected in Frome, Somerset.