Coffee chain’s new 5p charge for paper cups

COFFEE giant Starbucks is now charging an extra 5p for any beverage bought in a paper cup.

After a successful trial in its London stores, the chain is now rolling the charge to all 950 branches across the UK, including those in Wales.

From yesterday, all Starbucks stores will add on the extra charge, encouraging customers to bring in a reusable cup.

Starbucks is the latest chain to launch an environmentally friendly scheme.

The national roll-out comes after positive results from a London trial, which, according to Starbucks saw a 126% increase in the use of reusable cups, measured by the number of customers claiming the reusable cup discount.

The three-month trial was evaluated by environmental charity and behavioural change experts Hubbub and resulted in an increase in customers bringing their own cup or tumbler to trial stores from 2.2% before the trial to 5.8% during the trial.

“We saw encouraging results from the first three months of this trial with Hubbub,” said Martin Brok, president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“What stood out to us was the positive response we had from our partners [employees] and customers who continue to push us to innovate and find ways to reduce waste.

“Extending this to all our stores across Britain is an exciting step and we’re hoping this charge will remind customers to rethink their use of single-use plastic as it has with plastic bags.”

The funds raised from the 5p cup charge to all stores in Britain will continue to support recycling and sustainability efforts with Hubbub, with a focus to reduce plastic pollution across the UK and prompt consumers to rethink how we use plastic.

Trewin Restorick, CEO and founder of Hubbub said: “Single-use plastics is an issue that has become more significant in people’s minds than ever before.”