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:
​

• 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.