We’re working to keep East Sussex green, and that’s why we’re tackling the issue of disposable coffee cup waste. With so many cafes and takeaway options in East Sussex, it’s easy to grab a coffee on the go. You will find many independent coffee roasters and familiar high-street chains located throughout our towns. For many of us, grabbing a takeaway hot drink is an essential and enjoyable part of our lives. But while those disposable cups offer convenience, they come with a significant environmental cost that even the most dedicated coffee enthusiast may not realise. How can we solve the growing disposable coffee cup waste problem and its environmental impact?
The scale of disposable coffee cup waste
In the UK alone, an estimated 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are used annually, and shockingly, less than 1% of those get recycled. That’s a staggering 7 million cups ending up in the bin daily! This happens because, despite their paper-like appearance, most of these cups contain a plastic lining, making them unsuitable for standard recycling. However, because they look like paper, many people put them in recycling bins. While the cups themselves are problematic, the coffee residue left inside often contaminates the entire recycling bin. The whole bin must then be sent to the incinerator.
The production burden: Disposable cups and their environmental toll
The production of disposable coffee cups also has a significant carbon footprint. This is because manufacturing this quantity of cups requires vast amounts of water, energy, and raw materials. A single cup may seem insignificant, but the cumulative effect of billions of cups is a massive environmental burden.
A Local Perspective
The scale of disposable cup waste is evident throughout the county. At the University of Sussex, over 17,000 cups were discarded in just five cafes in October 2023 alone. This shows the substantial volume at just one site in our region and the problem of contamination, as these cups often disrupt recycling efforts. Indeed this example underscores the wider environmental challenges we face in Sussex.
What can we all do in East Sussex about disposable coffee cup waste?
Fortunately, we can make a real difference! Here’s how:
- Switching to a Reusable Cup is the way to go: There are many to choose from such as stainless steel, bamboo, and glass. There’s much less waste (and there’s often a discount if you bring your own, so you’ll make your money back in no time). Making this switch is simple. It’s also an effective way to address both the disposable coffee cup waste and the wider environmental issue. But note, a reusable cup has to be used between 20 and 100 times to offset the emissions produced to make it – so the fewer reusable cups you acquire, the quicker you’ll offset those emissions and justify that coffee run.
- If you use a disposable cup:
- Seek out dedicated cup recycling schemes: Some businesses like Costa and Café Nero have introduced special recycling programs for disposable coffee cups. You can use this webpage to find where you can recycle paper cups: Where to recycle near me? – Online Locator
- Crucially, do not place disposable coffee cups in a mixed recycling bin, as they can’t be recycled. A waste audit at our Council offices found that coffee cups were being put in the recycling bins, and with many still containing some coffee, not only could they not be recycled, they also contaminated the rest of the recycling in that bin.
It’s important to us at the East Sussex County Council that we do our part. Seeing first-hand how coffee cups contaminate our recycling at council offices has highlighted the need for change, and we’re launching an internal staff awareness campaign this March to tackle this.
Let’s Make a Difference Together
Such is the scale of this problem, we now know that by making small changes to our daily habits – such as using re-usable coffee cups for takeaways on a regular basis, or even drinking in rather than taking away – we can collectively make a significant difference in reducing disposable coffee cup waste in East Sussex.
If you want more useful tips to help recycle at home visit more of our recycling posts on the Your East Sussex blog.
Guest post by Lucy Harbor, Climate Emergency Officer
