5p coffee cup levy ditched as chains trusted to cut waste
AN environment minister has ignored calls to introduce a 5p charge on throwaway coffee cups, claiming voluntary measures by major chains are enough to tackle waste.
The prospect of a nominal fee being imposed per cup was dismissed by Dr Therese Coffey MP yesterday.
Instead, the Government signalled it will rely on voluntary measures by chains such as Costa, Caffe Nero and Pret a Manger to reduce the blight.
Most people are unaware of the fact that just one out of every 400 cups issued by coffee shops ends up being recycled.
This is because they contain a plastic coating that means they cannot be recycled along with other paper waste.
As a result, 2.5billion are thrown away in the UK alone every year and end up going to landfill where they take up to 30 years to rot away.
Academics, environment groups and the Lib Dems are among those calling for a 5p charge on the cups to encourage alternatives that can be easily recycled.
They say that the 5p charge on plastic bags has had an enormous impact in terms of reducing the number handed out at the tills by around 70 per cent – more than five billion a year.
Last year, the former Conservative environment minister Rory Stewart expressed some support for the idea of a 5p cup charge after the issue was highlighted by waste campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
However, Mr Stewart has since moved departments and his successor, Dr Coffey, appears to have rejected the idea. In a letter to the Lib Dems, she said the firms have a legal duty to recover and recycle ‘a proportion’ of the cups they give out.
This mostly relates to those left in their own bins.
Dr Coffey said some companies are taking voluntary measures to cut down on the number of cups given away.
Starbucks gives customers a 25p discount if they bring their own re-usable cup. Costa gives a 25p donation to charity when people bring their own cup.
But the Lib Dem environment spokesman, Kate Parminter, rejected the Government’s approach.
‘This letter shows the Conservative Government is in complete denial about the scandalous waste caused by throwaway coffee cups,’ she said.
‘Not only is the Minister refusing to act, she is refusing to even acknowledge this as an issue. We saw with the 5p plastic bag charge how a small intervention can make a huge difference in cutting unnecessary waste and protecting the environment.
‘The Conservatives should build on this success, not leave it up to the private sector alone when that approach has so clearly failed in the past.’