What 2 Years of Running the Zero Plastic Club in France Taught Us

When we launched the Zero Plastic Club two years ago, we didn’t know exactly how far it would go. We just knew one thing: single-use plastic water bottles had no place in a nightlife scene that wants to stay vibrant, inclusive, and future-ready.

Back then, a few visionary venues like La Machine du Moulin Rouge, and the Bonjour/Bonsoir groupe (Badaboum, Virage,...) had already made bold moves, banning bottled water as early as 2019! That early spark lit the fire: if they could do it, why not more?

Spoiler alert: A WHOLE. LOT. MORE.

From a venue to a movement

Fast forward to today: 24 clubs across France have joined the Zero Plastic Club. Together, we’ve eliminated over 1 million plastic items per year — that’s 10+ tonnes of plastic and 37 tonnes of CO2 saved, annually.

From Paris to Nantes, Lyon to Bordeaux, this wasn’t just a campaign — it became a full-blown movement.

What made it work? A savvy blend of community power, hands-on resources, individual and regular meet-ups where everyone could learn (and vent) together. Some clubs got personalised help, others shared learnings from experience, and everyone ended up so motivated by this collective track that they pushed way (we're talking waayyy) beyond their initial promise!

Some stats we’re freaking proud of (Yey!):

• 1,020,421 plastic items eliminated per year

• 323,983 water and soft drink bottles avoided annually

• 10.08 tonnes of plastic saved

• 37 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided

• 1.2 million clubbers reached

• 240,000 people/month engaged through in-venue campaigns

That, friends, is more than just a few cups. That’s culture on the move.

What we actually learned

Let’s be honest — getting rid of all plastic items in the club space isn’t as simple as swapping one cup for another. Here are some of the key learnings from our two years trajectory we think are worth mentioning:

1. Cigarette butts are the new plastic cups

During our most recent roundtable event in Paris, focused entirely on cigarette pollution in nightlife, the message was loud and clear: we’ve made huge progress on reusables, but cigarette waste is the next big frontier. Tiny, ubitquitous, extremely toxic, and still largely unaddressed.

As Audrey Speyer, Founder of PuriFungi, reminded us: “Cigarette butts are everywhere in the party space, but we’ve ended up not seeing them anymore. We need to bring them back into focus.”

And as Camille Guitteau put it: " We banned straws, we banned bottles... but what about cigarette butts? Every party operator has to endure this toxic waste. They’re the last frontier.”

Time to start treating cigarette butts like the problem they really are.

2. Bottled soft drinks are sneaky

We focused hard on water bottles, but fizzy drinks quietly filled the gap. The real shift comes from frontrunner clubs like Rosa Bonheur, who partnered with Necense to roll out soft drinks in solid (yes, solid!) formats.

Chef Damien, Necense co-founder, who joined our second roundtable in Paris as well, said it best when describing his work with Rosa Bonheur: “This switch is huge — logistics, storage, everything is positively affected. The comfort it brings is undeniable.”

It proves that with the right partners, even the most behind-the-bar plastics can be phased out.

3. The public gets it

When you explain why change is happening (and make it easy to do so), people actually support it. One of the members club saw a 15% rise in guests bringing their own water bottles after launching our #RamèneTaGourde campaign.

Across the campaign:

• 240,000 visitors/month saw our in-club messages

• 1.2 M+ people reached overall

• 15+ artist ambassadors shared the message online and onstage

So what does it tell about the #PlasticFreeParty movement? It shows us that the scene — both audiences and artists — is ready for the shift when it’s fun, clear, and collective.

4. Progress isn’t linear — but it’s worth it

Not every club moved at the same pace. Some were all-in from day one, others needed a nudge (or three). But the point is: we kept showing up, and so did they.

Martin, Founder at Le Sacré explained this perfectly: “We haven’t always been the best students, but you pushed us above & beyond — thank you for that.”

Every club has its own rhythm — and that’s okay. Progress isn’t about being perfect, it’s about moving forward, together.

So, what’s next for us?

We’re not done here. First off, this Summer #RamèneTaGourde enters festival mode! We’re teaming up with more artists, bringing the message to the outdoors, stages, and dancefloors across France and beyond.

Bye Bye Plastic is also talking with industry stakeholders to opportunities for bringing the resounding success of the Zero Plastic Club to new territories. If you're a public of industry stakeholder in the U.K., in Spain, in NYC, wherever, and want the next chapter of this story to right in your region, get in touch! It only takes 1 email to spark up a movement.

Remember: Change only happens with you

We did not do this alone. This was — and still is — a brilliant, positive, community-led effort. And the collaborative energy, creativity, and ambition we’ve seen makes us believe even more in what’s within our very close horizon if we dare to dream about it!

2 years down. Zero plastic in sight. Let’s keep going. 💚

The Bye Bye Plastic Team