Costa Coffee and Mcdonald’s partner with Roadchef for cup recycling.
· New project brings
together National Cup Recycling Scheme members to increase cup
recycling on-the-go
·
The three companies are
installing 65 new recycling points across all 30 Roadchef sites, in a
big boost for cup recycling infrastructure on the motorway network
Costa, McDonald's and Roadchef
Costa Coffee and McDonald’s UK, two of the
nation’s most popular high street brands, are joining with motorway service
area operator, Roadchef, to co-fund an innovative cup recycling programme at
all 30 Roadchef sites across the UK. It is the latest project run by members of
the National Cup Recycling Scheme, which aims to accelerate takeaway cup
recycling across the UK.
Roadchef is one of the most recognised
stopping points for drivers across the UK, whether it’s travelling for work or
a holiday. Its service areas see over 50 million visitors every year,
presenting a massive opportunity to help solve the challenge of collecting and
recycling paper takeaway cups on-the-go, whilst also tackling roadside
litter.
New Recycling Units
The three businesses are coming together to
demonstrate the power partnerships have in achieving circular solutions for
packaging waste. By introducing 65 bold new recycling units, designed by Unisan
UK, they are showing how easy it is to recycle takeaway cups and helping
consumers play their part too. They hope other businesses will follow their
lead to unlock the huge potential for cup recycling on-the-go.
Consumers can use the new units to easily
separate their cups, lids, and any leftover drinks before sending them off for
recycling. Cups will then be backhauled via Costa Coffee’s stores and sent to
specialist recycling facilities to be recycled into new products, such as
reusable cups and new luxury paper packaging.
What Does it Mean?
It means that road users can now keep hold
of their takeaway cups in their cars after enjoying their favourite drinks,
safe in the knowledge that they can easily recycle them at the next stop on
their journey.
For Costa Coffee, the partnership reflects
the company’s work to improve the sustainability of its cups and packaging. It
also supports its wider commitment to reaching Net Zero, which it announced
earlier this year alongside setting a science-based target to halve its
emissions per serving of coffee by 2030. The global coffee brand also
incentivises reuse through its Costa Coffee Club loyalty scheme whilst
continuing to provide cup recycling points at all its UK stores. Most recently,
it launched a trial in 150 stores of 100% recyclable fibre lids, made from
renewable plant-based material.
Feedback from Costa
Speaking about the project, Costa
Coffee’s Sustainability Lead, Laurence Webb, said: “At Costa
Coffee, we are focused on championing sustainable solutions for cups and
packaging, and want to work with other leading brands to drive positive change
for the environment. This exciting project helps us deliver on both aims and
we’re looking forward to seeing how consumers respond so we can further
optimise and boost recycling across the country. “
The
project also forms part of McDonald’s Plan for Change which launched last year.
As part of this McDonald’s UK has committed to become Net Zero across its
restaurants and offices by 2030 and across its entire value chain by 2040. In
December 2021, McDonald’s opened the UK’s first ever net-zero build restaurant
in Market Drayton. Across its estate McDonald’s has over 1,100 recycling units
where customers can recycle cups from any brand, not just McDonald’s.
Feedback from McDonald's
McDonald’s Senior Sustainability Consultant, Helen
McFarlane, said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with
our partners on this exciting project. We are committed to making it even
easier for on-the-go consumers to give their cups a second life, and this is
the next step on that journey. We hope that, by putting these highly visible
bins in some of our most visited locations we can get the message out there
that coffee cups can be recycled, and we will be continue to encourage people
to return their cups to our restaurants across the country.”
