Recycling Points for Takeaway Drinks Cups Set to Roll Out
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 11:46:02
Cups and containers used to house hot drinks that are sold by the billions in Britain each year are seen as representing a major ecological issue, because until recently it was impossible to recycle them due to the mixed materials involved in their construction.
Now a scheme to offer collection points where these receptacles can be deposited for sustainable processing, rather than forcing people to toss them in with general waste, is being extended to cover more sites in the wake of an earlier single-site test run, according to the Telegraph.
The 200,000 takeaway cups that will be collected at the 17 new points over the course of a year will be a drop in the ocean compared with the 2.5 billion which get used nationally during this period. However, this is a good start and suggests that more collection points will be added over time.
Waste processing firm Veolia is providing the recycling facilities in conjunction with Selecta, a retailer that offers self-service coffee facilities at train stations and in offices and other public spaces.
Once collected, the used cups will be pulped and then used to produce other products. They will be converted into bags, cardboard packaging and even stationery.
Of course, the main issue with this campaign is that it still involves the manufacturing, use, collection and processing of large volumes of single-use cups, which in itself has a large carbon footprint. In recent years the growing popularity of reusable coffee cups has been highlighted as a potentially more sustainable alternative to simply improving recycling facilities.
In the case of coffee cups, it makes sense to re-use one cup again and again for years rather than opting for a single-use container, whether or not it is recyclable.
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