Bristol coffee cup recycling scheme set to be expanded

Nearly half a million coffee cups have been saved from landfill as part of a new recycling drive.

Cup bins had been placed around Bristol by a waste company, making it easier for people to recycle.

So far 5.6 tonnes of single use cups have been turned into greetings cards, paper bags and gift boxes.

The success of the scheme means it will now be expanded, with recycling bins now placed in hospitals across the region.

Councillor Nicola Beech, cabinet member for climate, ecology, waste and energy on Bristol City Council, said: "Bristol has a reputation for being a green city and it is fantastic to see that we are continuing to build on that by offering people more ways to recycle."

Since the 'For Cups Sake' recycling scheme was rolled out in February 2020, more than 465,000 cups have been collected.

Once gathered, the cups are baled at the Bristol Waste site in Avonmouth before being sent to the James Cropper paper mill in the Lake District.

The plastic lining is removed from the cup, allowing the paper to be recycled into items such as cards, notebooks and paper shopping bags.

Explaining the need for the bins, Gwen Frost, head of sustainability and innovation at Bristol Waste, said: "Thousands of paper cups are still being used each year in Bristol and most aren't recycled. Three in four people are still unaware that cups need to be collected separately from normal card and paper."

Nationally three billion single-use coffee cups are thrown away each year, with less than four per cent currently recycled.

The project was initially awarded funding through the charity Hubbub, which launched The Cup Fund thanks to the 5p charge on disposable coffee cups introduced to reduce plastic pollution.