The National Cup Recycling Scheme is almost four years old and we are proud to say that in that time, 163 million cups have been recycled. This is a major achievement in itself, but it is even more surprising considering the drop in footfall that high street retailers have experienced over the last two years.
The success of the scheme refutes myths that say paper cups cannot be recycled – the fibre from paper cups can be recycled up to seven times, and all of our recycling has taken place in the UK, at standard paper mills. The raw material is a quality fibre that can be made into everything from chipboard and paperboard to high quality packaging and shopping bags. Working with James Cropper – a prestige paper innovator based in the English Lake District, and supplying distinct, custom-made paper products to many of the world’s leading luxury brands, art galleries and designers – the card-maker, Hallmark has even developed a range of greetings cards made with recycled cup content.
Cup recycling is straight forward as long as cups are collected as a segregated waste stream, and this is where the scheme really comes into its own. Eight high street brands have come together to incentivise collections, by offering local authorities and commercial waste businesses a £70 per-tonne supplement for segregated cups.
Local authorities benefit in many ways. Firstly, those which start to collect paper cups will receive an additional income from their waste. These might be cups from council offices and staff, or commercial collections offered to business customers.
All cups collected and recycled can be included in recycling rates, and Valpak monitors the stats carefully to ensure that all figures are accurate and independently verified.
Under the waste hierarchy, reuse will always give the best environmental outcomes, but where disposable cups are still used for convenience, making sure that they are recycled is hugely important. As well as having a positive impact on recycling rates, recycling also creates a 50 per cent reduction in the cup’s carbon emissions. Huhtamaki’s 2018 life cycle analysis study found that paper cups have a lower carbon footprint than commonly-used alternatives such as ceramic or reusable cups.
When the National Cup Recycling Scheme began in 2018, five waste collectors were signed up; today, we have 25 companies, large and small, offering collection services. The scheme is funded by eight of the best-known high street brands – Costa, McDonald’s, Caffè Nero, Pret A Manger, Greggs, Burger King, Pure and Lavazza Professional and members of the public can find out where to recycle cups by postcode. To find out more about the benefits of becoming a collector, visit: https://www.cuprecyclingscheme.co.uk
