Single-use fee for cof fee cups ‘beats discount in waste battle’
SCOTS should be charged extra for single-use coffee cups in a drive to reduce waste, experts have claimed.
A study found that consumers are more likely to use re-usable cups if they are charged extra for throwaway ones – rather than getting a discount for bringing their own.
Zero Waste Scotland carried out a trial in four public sector cafes.
The 10p discount for customers who used their own cups when ordering hot drinks was scrapped, and the cost of hot drinks such as coffee was reduced by 10p.
Anyone who used a single-use cup then had 10p added to the cost of their drink. Zero Waste Scotland said that this led to a 50 per cent rise in those using reusable cups.
In its report, which is published today, the quango will encourage retailers to change their policy on single-use packaging – as well as urging ministers to move forward with plans for a so-called ‘latte levy’.
Lead author Michael Lenaghan said: ‘We have shown that it isn’t necessary to charge people more for their coffee to persuade them to ditch a disposable cup in favour of a reusable one.
‘You just need to put a clear price on the cup and let consumers decide if it is a price worth paying every time they buy a drink.
‘Single use packaging has an environmental and a financial cost, but that financial cost is usually hidden from view, so consumers don’t have all the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions.
‘Behavioural science has shown that people will make more effort to avoid a cost – such as a 25p charge on single use cups – than they will to obtain a gain of equal value, such as a 25p reusable cup discount.’
Mr Lenaghan has argued that the desire of people to avoid additional costs has already been seen in Scotland following the successful introduction of a plastic bag charge, and support for the planned deposit return scheme on bottles and cans.
An estimate 200million singleuse coffee cups are used every year in Scotland.
Earlier this year the Scottish Government committed in principle to introducing a charge on disposable drinks cups – a so-called ‘latte levy’.
This follows an ambitious course of action by ministers to rid Scotland’s streets, countryside and beaches of litter as well as tackling climate change.
Ministers have also committed to taking action on plastic cotton-buds and straws.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government set up an expert panel to examine environmental charging and they reported in July of this year. Ministers are currently considering their recommendations, including on single-use drinks cups, as part of preparations for the forthcoming Circular Economy Bill. We will publish proposals in due course.’
Within the UK, only one in 400 disposable coffee cups is thought to be recycled, meaning at least 50,000 go into general waste in Scotland.
Experts at Zero Waste Scotland believe that the true number going into waste north of the Border could be higher due to a lack of facilities to recycle them.