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'Latte levy' call to cut coffee cup waste

11:22 am on 6 January 2018

British MPs want a 25 pence "latte levy" on disposable coffee cups and them banned altogether if a recycling target is not met by 2023.

The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year. Photo: 123RF

A report by the Environmental Audit Committee said the tax should be used to improve the UK's recycling and reprocessing facilities.

The committee's chair, Mary Creagh MP, said: "The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year - that's enough to circle the planet five and a half times.

"Almost none are recycled and half a million a day are littered. Coffee cup producers and distributors have not taken action to rectify this and government has sat on its hands.

"The UK's coffee shop market is expanding rapidly, so we need to kick start a revolution in recycling."

A plan to make people pay more to use disposable coffee cups is already being considered in Wales.

The proposed 25p levy is being opposed by the makers of paper cups.

Mike Turner, of the Paper Cup Alliance, said paper cups were the most sustainable and safe solution for drinks on the go.

"The paper cups we manufacture in the UK are sustainably sourced, responsibly produced, recyclable and, through a number of facilities, are being recycled. We are committed to increasing recycling rates," he said.

"Taxing the morning coffee run will not address the issue of litter, but it will hurt consumers and impact already struggling High Streets."

The MPs point out that while some coffee shops offer discounts for customers who bring their own cup, only 1 to 2 percent of coffee drinkers respond.

Following the success of the plastic bag charge, they have concluded that consumers respond more to sticks than to carrots.

The plastic lining in coffee cups makes them costly to recycle, and the MPs said the businesses supplying and producing them do not bear the full costs of their disposal.

Disposable coffee cups are technically recyclable, but most are not because the UK has just three facilities that can split the paper and plastic components for recycling.

The committee has called on the government to require coffee cups from cafes without in-store recycling systems to carry "not widely recycled" labels to increase consumer awareness. Cafes with in-store recycling systems should print their cups with "recyclable in store only", the MPs add.

The committee's recommendations were welcomed by environmental campaigners.

Fiona Nicholls from Greenpeace UK, said the problem was getting bigger: "We must not allow the packaging industry to water down these recommendations any further."

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and campaigner, said: "The UK has woken up and smelled the coffee cup nightmare.

"The committee has recognised that the huge mountain of disposable coffee cups is effectively unrecyclable, and is overwhelming and disrupting the nation's waste disposal systems, ultimately polluting our rivers and seas, and needs urgent action."

The British Coffee Association's Chris Stemman also welcomed the report's broad principles, but said a levy was not the answer.

"It places an unfair and additional cost on coffee drinking consumers only - despite paper cups only contributing 0.7 percent of total paper packaging waste," he told BBC News.

"We urge the government to ensure that if any potential tax is considered, that it is ring-fenced and used specifically to invest in new 'binfrastructure' and to improve recycling processes with local authorities that make it easier to separate and stream paper cups and other waste products."

Mr Stemman said the industry should continue to focus on other environmental issues such as cutting water use, carbon reduction, and turning waste coffee grounds into biofuel.

The government agrees plastic waste is a problem and will seek evidence on a tax on single-use plastics.

Pressure on coffee chains

In response, Starbucks said it would trial a 5p cup charge in 20 to 25 central London outlets, adding that it continued to offer a 25p discount to customers who brought their own reusable cups.

No other major coffee chains have announced plans to charge customers for their disposable cups.

High Street chain Eat said it was the only firm to sell 100 percent biodegradable cups in a bid to alleviate concerns about its environmental impact.

McDonald's has installed recycling units in around 80 percent of its UK stores, though this requires customers to separate the cups from other waste packaging themselves.

The most common tactic for cutting waste has been to offer customers discounts for bringing in their own reusable cups.

Big firms like Costa Coffee and Pret a Manger give discounts of up to 50p.

From next week, Greggs Bakery will offer 20p off hot drinks for customers who bring their own cups.

However, some customers have complained on social media that they have seen baristas measuring drinks in disposable cups and then tipping the drink into a reusable vessel - negating the whole point of the exercise.

A study by Cardiff University Professor Wouter Poortinga suggests that charging for cups may be a more effective way of changing consumer behaviour than discounts.

In a series of trials at 12 coffee shops in Cardiff, the study found nearly a 20 percent increase in hot drinks sales with reusable cups if stores offer free reusable coffee cups and charged for disposable ones.

But for now, most coffee chains are choosing discounts over charges.

- BBC