London-based healthy ‘grab-and-go’ chain Abokado has joined the war on coffee cup waste, offering a 25p discount on their coffee for customers who bring their own reusable cup.
The ‘Cupcycle’ campaign has been introduced in response to findings from coffee cup recycling scheme Simply Cups, which suggested fewer than one in 400 high street coffee chain paper cups are recycled in the UK.
Abokado founder Mark Lilley is calling on all coffee chains to follow suit, in an effort to make a dint in the 2.5billion coffee cups handed out across the Capital each year.
The chain is currently in talks with the developers of a 100% recyclable cup and plans to introduce the model in its 28 outlets across central London within the next year.
Mr Lilley said: “In the meantime, we hope this 25p off initiative will not only help reduce the number of unrecyclable cups leaving our stores, but encourage London’s great Coffee House community to follow suit. If all outlets operate a similar offer then together we can dramatically address the current situation and make a positive impact on the environment.”
The campaign follows a similar trial from Starbucks earlier this year, where the US chain offered 50p off for customers who brought in reusable cups in response to criticism that high street coffee chains were making false claims about how many cups they recycle.
Costa, Pret and Café Nero were among the chains to face backlash over their sleeves bearing the recycle symbol, which environmental campaigners claim tricks the consumer into thinking the whole cup was being recycled, not just the sleeve.
While most coffee cups are paper, they need to be sent to specialist recycling facilities where the plastic used to laminate the paper is removed.
Fewer than three million were recycled last year, according to Simply Cups, which operates Britain’s only paper cup recycling service.
