Success of Coffee Cup Recycling Trial Leads to National Rollout
Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - 15:57:18
A small-scale scheme which saw the collection of disposable single-use coffee cups for recycling in the city of Leeds has proven to be such a hit that it is set to be introduced in many other locations across the UK, according to BBC News.
Hundreds of bins were introduced to allow residents and visitors to the city centre to dispose of their drinks receptacles without being forced to place them in with general waste, where they would not be processed in a sustainable way.
Over a million cups have already been collected in Leeds alone, showing that there is clearly enthusiasm for this sort of solution amongst the general public, thus giving councils in other regions incentives to introduce the bins as well.
Edinburgh has already jumped on this bandwagon, with more major urban centres in the UK set to follow suit next year.
There is no doubt that kerbside collection of recyclable materials has improved in the past decade, although campaigners recognised that it was important to do more to make similar services available to people while they were out and about. With over 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups consumed in the UK annually, there is clearly a significant need for this scheme.
The problem with coffee cups is that although they are typically made of cardboard, this material has been treated with plastics and waxes to make it waterproof, thus rendering it more challenging to recycle. There is also the question of the residue left by the liquid once it has been consumed, which needs to be removed in order to make recycling possible.
Bringing more recycling bins to the towns and cities of Britain will certainly give consumers more choice, but ultimately the move to entirely reusable cups will be necessary, as has been the case with plastic bags.
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