The National Cup Recycling Scheme launched by Valpak and Costa Coffee has collected and recycled over 160 million paper cups since its launch in 2018. Sail Grand Prix is a high-adrenaline, climate positive sport with its championship taking place over eight global events. Paper cups must be collected as a separate waste stream to be recycled whether in a coffee store or on-the-go. The National Cup Recycling Scheme teamed up with SailGP to help find a cup recycling solution for their latest event which took place in Plymouth on 17th – 18th July.
All hands on deck!
National Cup Recycling Scheme Members including Costa Coffee, McDonald’s, Pret A Manger, Caffè Nero, Greggs, Burger King, Pure and Lavazza Professional partnered with Plymouth City Council to capture paper cups generated by the event for recycling and to prevent paper cups from ending up in general waste. Together these major retailers collaboratively funded the cost of five cup recycling bins for the council to use at this and future events. These were designed and manufactured by Regency Design & Print who were able to create a bespoke design. These five cup recycling bins were placed at various locations around the event.
Learning the ropes
Up until now the National Cup Recycling Scheme has focused on in-store cup recycling initiatives which aim to create a network for consumers to be able to return their used paper cups for recycling. Many of these retailers accept paper cups in store regardless of brand and there are now 25 waste collectors collecting paper cups. Scheme Members acknowledge that many of their cups are taken away from stores and are driven to go beyond in-store initiatives to increase cup recycling. And so, the SailGP event in Plymouth provided an ideal opportunity for a first event-based cup recycling project. The project was also supported by Bristol Waste Company who were able to collect the cups and return them to their depot to bulk before sending them to the reprocessor.
On the right tack
These five cup recycling bins were well engaged with by members of the public and will be used for future events in Plymouth. The cups collected from the event will feed into the total number of cups collected and recycled by the Scheme. The National Cup Recycling Scheme will continue to work with its members to raise awareness of cup recycling and grow the UK’s infrastructure for collecting and recycling paper cups.
Look out for a detailed case study coming soon!
To find out how you can get on board, please email: CupRecycling@Valpak.co.uk.
