Coffee cup recycling rates have increased from an estimated 1:400 to 1:25 in just two years and will increase to 1:12 in 2019, according to a Report published today (29th October) by the Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group (PCRRG).  
Through its collaborative programme of workshops and seminars, the PCRRG has facilitated a step change in paper cup recycling that sees it confident of meeting its 2016 Manifesto Goal that ‘by 2020 the greater majority of the UK population will have access to information, schemes and facilities that enable used paper cups to be sustainably recovered and recycled.’
In fact, the Report shows that capacity exists now to recycle all the papers cups used in the UK.  
In the past 12 months the work of the PCRRG and its members have led to the following progress:

• There are now more than 4,500 paper cup recycling points in the UK for consumers to return cups via bring banks and in-store take back schemes;
• 115 local authorities now collect paper cups with paper cartons, with more coming on stream all the time;
• 21 waste collectors are now actively participating in a national recycling scheme to increase recycling of paper cups and transport them to their reprocessing end markets, up from two last year;
• Five reprocessors are accepting paper cups including ACE UK, DS Smith, James Cropper and Veolia;
• At least nine  councils have started to include paper cups in kerbside collection schemes for householders, and that number is growing through the ACE UK programme*

Neil Whittall, Chairman of the PCRRG said: “The industry can be justly proud of the progress it has made so far but of course we know that there is more work to do. Consumers are rightly demanding change and Government is keen to make that happen. However we believe that by working together we are demonstrating that industry can and will make change in a way that benefits the circular economy, protects UK manufacturing and engineering jobs and does not threaten the success of the high street.   As a result of our actions and our support for PRN reform,  we don’t believe that burdening the consumer with more cost in the form of a cup tax or charge is needed.”
Mark Pawsey, Chairman of the All Party Parliament Group on Packaging, said: “The figures speak for themselves, but what impresses me is how this industry has taken a serious challenge and pulled together to effect change that is workable for all stakeholders.  The desire to make change has driven people to set aside their competitive differences in order to achieve something that is wanted by consumers, desired by Government and is right for the industry.   I am confident the PCRRG will meet and exceed its Manifesto goal and its work is a credit to the industry and an example to other sectors.”
 
Ends                                                                                                                               29 October 2018
 
* the ACE UK paper cup collection scheme was launched in earlier 2018 by 14 organisations in collaboration with ACE UK (the Alliance for Beverage cartons and the Environment) to accelerate the recycling of PE lined paper cups. Cups are now accepted at more than 430 ACE bring banks in 115 local authorities and the scheme is rapidly expanding.
 
Note to Editors

• The PCRRG Year 2 Report can be downloaded here; pcrrg_report_year_two_report.pdf
• Neil Whittall, Chairman of the PCRRG and Adrian Pratt, Vice Chairman of the PCRRG are available for comment - see contact details below
• It is widely quoted that paper cups can’t be recycled in the UK.  This is incorrect and is evidenced by the progress detailed in the Report
• PCRRG members include representatives from paper board manufacturers, paper cup manufacturers, distributors, retail brands recycling and reprocessing companies, local authorities and NGO bodies.

 
 
Issued on behalf of the PCRRG by Leapfrog PR. Editorial contacts is Felicity Read on 01242 282000 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com  mobile 07887 608353

​The PCRRG and its members have helped to boost the number of cup collections points available across the UK. Notable examples are the Costa Coffee in store collection systems, the ACE Bring Bank Network, and more local community initiatives like that in Gosport. 
Since the Start of 2018 the ACE Bring Bank Network has accepted paper cups along with the beverage cartons. There are nearly 400 of these Bring Banks around the UK that can be found in 28% of local authorities. Several local VIP's have been visiting this new infrastructure to see how it can benefit the local communities alongside existing waste and recycling services. 
​Here are a few of the photos from VIP visits to the growing network of cup recycling points. 

Organisations from across the paper cup supply chain have signed an agreement with the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) to accelerate UK recycling of PE lined paper cups. The cross-industry collaboration will work towards delivering a long-term, nationwide paper cup recycling solution which complements and builds on the recycling activities achieved so far by the paper cup industry.

​Bring banks will accept cups along with cartons.

• From 1st January 2018 all ACE UK bring banks will accept paper cups for recycling, delivering an additional 382 recycling points located in 97 local authorities across the UK. With a further 33 recycling points across an additional eight local authorities scheduled during the next phase.
• Cups from these recycling points will be processed at ACE UK’s recycling facility in Halifax.
• Drawing on its experience and existing relationships with local authorities, waste management organisations and recycling bodies, ACE UK will work to include cups in local authority kerbside collections. Currently 66% of local authorities collect beverage cartons at kerbside, in addition to those which collect through bring banks, and it is hoped to achieve similar levels of coverage for cups.

​Neil Whittall; “This agreement with ACE UK represents a significant advance in UK recycling infrastructure for paper cups. It will also help us accelerate progress towards the PCRRG’s objective of ensuring the majority of the UK population have access to information, schemes and facilities to allow them to recycle their paper cup, as set out in our Paper Cup Manifesto.”

Editorial contacts are Felicity Read on 01242 282000 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com or: Kirsten Doddy +447766 734314 on Kirsten.doddy@anthesisgroup.com.

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets. Their customers include publishers, retailers, brand owners, print and board producers, printing houses, merchants, converters, joineries and construction companies.

Their aim is to replace fossil based materials by innovating and developing new products and services based on wood and other renewable materials. They believe that everything made with fossil fuels today can be made from a tree tomorrow and their focus is on fibre-based packaging, plantation-based pulp, innovation in biomaterials, and sustainable building solutions.
In terms of paper cup recycling, Stora Enso sponsored the 2017 Nordic Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. In doing so, they collaborated with the event organisers and provided specific bins to collect the hundreds of thousands of paper cups and plates from the event. The cups from the event were made from sustainably sourced materials by packaging specialist Huhtamaki. After the event, the cups were collected, bailed and sent to a recycling plant where the paper fibres were separated from the plastic and remade into paper and cardboard boxes.

The press release for this event can be seen here and a video of the recycling process created by Stora Enso can be seen below.
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Editorial contacts are Felicity Read on 01242 282000 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com or: Kirsten Doddy +44 (0) 7766 734314 on Kirsten.doddy@anthesisgroup.com.

Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) is an environmental charity committed to making Scotland clean, green and sustainable. They achieve this by tackling a wide range of environmental issues, including reducing the amount of litter on the streets to cutting carbon emissions. They draw together government, local authorities, businesses, community groups and individuals in this challenge.

‘Clean Up Scotland’ is Keep Scotland Beautiful’s national campaign to help build community pride and to make Scotland the cleanest country in Europe by 2020.   The campaign supports people to clean up litter and drive behaviour change.

One of the most visible and most prevalent litter items are single use drinks containers, which are widely used by fast food establishments and coffee shops within the UK.  Along with other litter types, Keep Scotland Beautiful is working on a variety of initiatives to raise awareness of, and tackle the littering of single use cups and drinks containers.

These include initiatives which will:

• bring focus to our throw away culture,
• challenge consumer behaviour,
• challenge producer and retailer roles and responsibilities,
• engage with the current debate surrounding issues of disposable packaging,
• lead the way in trailing innovative and sustainable solutions to promote informed consumer behaviour.

These initiatives will be completed in partnership with other single use cup related companies and organisations. These partnerships include:

Simply Cups / Recoup
This first initiative took place on the 24th/25th October 2017 at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Glasgow.  An exhibition, called #SipDontTip, highlighted the issue of litter and waste associated with single use beverage containers. The exhibit included a huge sculpture made entirely of coffee cups, meant to highlight the 208 million used every year in Scotland. The event also involved exhibits made by school pupils who engaged with the topic. Simply Cups and RECOUP provided installations to showcase the recycling journey of both single use cups and plastic bottles.

Simply Cups
This project, working with Glasgow City Council, will trial a coffee cup recycling collection service from a range of business premises in Glasgow’s ‘Golden Z’, in the city centre. It will be similar to that trialled by Simply Cups and Hubbub in London (Square Mile Challenge). This project is planned for early 2018.
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RECOUP
A joint proposal, aiming to promote plastic packaging recycling, particularly focused on single use beverage containers, is being developed for Spring 2018.  An ambitious two-year project, it will incorporate public engagement and empowerment through citizen science, a travelling plastic sculpture and education opportunities for students and teachers.
 
Paper Cup Recycling & Recovery Group (PCRRG)
This audit will help to develop a more comprehensive set of data for single use cups that are in litter bins around Glasgow. By intensively assessing the cups within bins in Glasgow city centre, Keep Scotland Beautiful has captured data on materials, brands and trends.  A report is due for completion in early 2018.

Editorial contacts are Felicity Read on 01242 282000 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com or: Kirsten Doddy +44 (0) 7766 734314 on Kirsten.doddy@anthesisgroup.com.

James Cropper creates high quality, distinctive and advanced paper products to help support industries with products such as their packaging (Lush) or paper bags (Selfridges).  They made a multi-million pound investment with their unique CupCycling plant that is capable of recycling 100% of the once tricky paper cup. James Cropper’s recycling plant routinely deals with the equivalent of 10 million paper cups per week from the off cuts of paper cup manufacturers as well as materials from consumers at the end of their use. Impressively generating zero waste, with 90% of the material (paper fibre) being turned into paper products and 10% (plastic) being sent away to be turned into plastic products. James Cropper is working with large retailers and waste management companies to upcycle used cups from in-store collections.

In September 2017, Selfridges agreed a deal with James Cropper to recycle paper cups from their Oxford Street store and head office. These cups are being recycled and remade into Selfridges distinctive yellow paper bags to be used within the stores before entering the usual paper recycling stream. The press release for the project can be found here.

James Cropper 3D Products has also recently teamed up with Lush, helping to create sustainable packaging which fits in with Lush’s ethically sourced ethos. The press release for the project can be found here. Similar to McDonalds and Selfridges, James Cropper uses paper cup fibres that have been recycled at their processing plant to create Colourform. This material is used to create  high quality moulded pulp packaging, which is biodegradable and is a more sustainable alternative to plastic. The packaging was released in the UK in September 2017 and will eventually be released worldwide.

James Cropper teamed up with McDonalds in January 2016 to begin a trial of collecting and recycling paper cups from 150 of the 1250 McDonalds stores within the UK. James Cropper have developed a recycling technique which allows the paper and plastic from paper cups to be separated and recycled separately, allowing them to be put back into the supply chain with 0% of the material being sent to landfill. Cups are baled before being sent to James Cropper’s CupCycling plant for processing. The press release for this project can be found here and James Cropper’s dedicated website for their cup recycling process can be found here.

Editorial contacts are Felicity Read on 01242 282000 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com or: Kirsten Doddy +44 (0) 7766 734314 on Kirsten.doddy@anthesisgroup.com.

As the UK’s largest coffee shop brand, Costa are committed to increasing the number of takeaway cups recovered and recycled across the UK. It also wants to encourage and incentivise customers to use reusable cups where possible, thereby reducing the number of takeaway cups being sold. To help increase the number of paper cups being recycled, Costa actively promote recycling of paper cups to consumers with online information, via their website and social media pages. An example of one of their recycling infographics can be seen here.

Costa are committed to increasing the number of cups recovered and recycled and have taken a number of steps to help increase recycling rates, whilst educating and incentivise consumers to use less and recycle more. Costa have lead change both within their own stores but also across the industry – looking at the barriers to entry which stop cups from being more widely recycled. Costa also:
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• Recycle any branded takeaway coffee cup when left or returned to any of the 2,000 plus Costa Coffee stores across the UK. These cups are collected and recycled by their waste partner, Veolia. Please click here to see Costa’s in-store recycling infographic.
• Offer customers a 25p discount when using their own reusable cup (any brand) in store
• Sell two multipurpose reusable cups instore, both of which are also fit for purpose in a Costa Express machine
• Continue to fund and drive research with The University of Sheffield to better understand the barriers to entry around cup recyclability
• Support industry and NGO initiatives to help raise consumer awareness and help promote behavioural change around recycling – such as Hubbub’s ‘Square Mile Challenge’ which launched in April 2017. This project saw a variety of business around London introduce coffee cup recycling facilities.

Editorial contacts are Felicity Read on 01242 282000 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com or: Kirsten Doddy +447766 734314 on Kirsten.doddy@anthesisgroup.com.