Victory for Mail in crackdown on plastic coffee cups

CUSTOMERS who bring their own reusable cup to a Pret A Manger sandwich shop will get 50p off their coffee next year, the firm announced yesterday.

The chain’s move to double its hot drinks discount comes after the Daily Mail’s Curb the Cups campaign, which has highlighted the issue of huge waste and litter caused by throwaway cups.

The cups used by Pret and other coffee shops are coated with a plastic film, which means they cannot be easily recycled along with other paper waste. As a result, an estimated 2.5 billion are thrown away every year, ending up on rubbish tips or burned.

The decision by Pret means that someone who brings in their own cup will pay just 49p to fill it with the firm’s organic filter coffee.

Following the Mail’s campaign, a number of chains, including Costa, Starbucks and McDonald’s, have taken steps to boost the collection and recycling of used cups.

The decision to double the discount from 25p to 50p was announced by Pret chief executive Clive Schlee, who consulted customers on social media.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Schlee said: ‘Last week I tweeted that Pret was considering increasing its discount from 25p to 50p for any customer bringing a reusable cup. We are thinking of doing this to help change habits. It’s well known that “reduce” is better than “recycle”.

‘I was inundated with suggestions, ideas and feedback. All of them were constructive and the vast majority were supportive.’

Customers also called on the firm to develop a good reusable cup that is both light and leakproof, which it also plans to do.

And a large number pointed to the success of the Government’s 5p plastic bag tax, saying Pret should charge for cups instead.

But Mr Schlee said: ‘We would prefer to be generous to our customers than to tax them.’

The 50p discount will come into effect in January and the reusable cups will go on sale later next year.

Both Starbucks and Costa offer a 25p discount to customers who bring their own cups, but many are unaware of the incentive. The move by Pret is part of a wider effort by the chain to cut down on the use of plastic and packaging.

It has launched a trial selling reusable plastic and glass bottles alongside giving people the chance to fill them for free with filtered water.