Recycling takeaway cups
Cup Recycling Initiative
A new initiative has been launched this year to help capture disposable takeaway cups for recycling. The scheme is encouraging waste management companies to offer cup recycling to local authorities and businesses across the UK.
As a result of the initiative, paper cups are now one of the highest valued materials on the market, making them commercially attractive for waste collectors to include as part of their recycling offering to customers.
Case Study - How Costa Coffee is Helping Increase Cup Recycling
In April 2018 Costa Coffee announced its commitment to recycle 100 million takeaway cups in the next year and 500 million cups by 2020. Costa will recycle ANY disposable coffee cup, regardless of brand.
Costa is working with major organisations and councils across the UK to put the infrastructure in place to reach these ambitious but achievable targets.
Useful Information
How you be a part of this Cup Recycling Scheme
There are now 12 Waste Management Companies (WMCs) signed up to the cup recycling scheme. Below are their contact details, the cup recycling service the WMC provides, and where the WMC operates in the UK.
If you are a WMC who wants to be a part of the scheme, contact the scheme administrators Valpak Limited at cuprecycling@valpak.co.uk
If you are looking to start recycling paper cups, get in contact with the suitable WMC below:
1. Veolia
Contact
- If you are a Costa affiliate (PTS or partner): uk.customer.cuprecycling@veolia.com
- If you are not a Costa affiliate use the contact form on the website, enquiries will be sorted by location and type of customer: https://www.veolia.co.uk/contact-us#no-back
Service
- Only courier collection offered to customers who have other waste services with Veolia or are willing to take them
- Can also receive baled deliveries at the Basildon facility, but this must be prearranged and contracted with Veolia
Location
- All of mainland UK excluding the Highlands
2. Grundon
Contact
- Head of Sales Steve Hill steve.hill@grundon.com
- cuprecycling@grundon.com
Service
- Grundon provide dedicated internal and external containers for the cups and will collect segregated paper cups of a certain specification (verified upon customer enquiry)
- Opportunity to enter a closed loop service where the customer can purchase Premium A4 Office Paper made from cup fibres
Location
- London and the Home Counties
3. Simply Cups
Contact
- Maddie Hickman: mhickman@closedloopuk.com
- Amelia Gillis: agillis@closedloopuk.com
- 0808 168 8787
Service
- Business-to-business collection
- Post-back
- Cup recycling bins
Location
- England (minimum collection quantities may apply in certain areas)
4. First Mile
Contact
- Customers@thefirstmile.co.uk
- 0800 612 9894
Service
- Coffee cup recycling sacks
- Post-back including coffee cups, posts and compostable packaging
Location
- Coffee cup recycling sacks - London only, Post-back scheme - national
5. Select
Contact
- John Evans jre@selectenviro.co.uk
Service
- Internal containers or customer can use their own internal container
- External containers: 360 litre or 1100 litre wheeled containers for coffee cup recycling
- Cups required to be placed in clear sacks and placed in internal/ external containers
- Collections are flexible: weekly, fortnightly or four weekly
Location
- All RG postcodes, excluding RG28
- All SL postcodes, excluding SL0, SL7, SL8 and SL9
- Guildford
- Oxford
Contact
- helpdesk@paper-round.co.uk
- 020 7407 6100
Service
- Pre-paid bag collection service of segregated cups from a drop-front 1100 litre bin or cage
Location
- London and Brighton
7. Bywaters
Contact
Service
- Bywaters can provide bespoke internal and external containers for cup storage and are happy to receive bagged deliveries of segregated paper cups. All bags of segregated paper cups will be collected with an electric, zero emission vehicle.
- Coffee grounds can also be collected to be recycling by Bio Bean.
Location
- Service all of London and will service nationally on a case by case basis
8. Suez
9. Biffa
Contact
Service
- Van collections in source segregated bags but service will be developing
Location
- Central London
- Manchester
10. Helistrat
Contact
- enquiries@helistrat.co.uk (023 9312 1314)
Service
- Single and mixed coffee cup collections (specifications available on request)
Location
- London
- Worcester
- Leicester
- Derby
- South Coast
- Exeter
- Bristol
- Brighton
- North East
- Bolton
- Manchester
- Scotland
- Scottish Boarders & West Scotland
12. Cawleys
Contact
Service
- Coffee Cup Recycling Sacks with external drop front storage bins available
- Scheduled collections which may be weekly, fortnightly or four weekly
- Internal cup recycling bins available
- Coffee grounds recycling collections to Biobean
Location
- North and East London
- Bedfordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Northamptonshire
13. Forge Recycling
Contact
- info@forgerecycling.co.uk
- Main contact Sam Goodall or Chris Hale 0345 5050905
Service
- On site paper cup (bag collection service)
- Provision of internal and or external bins on request
Location
- Leeds/Ilkley/Otley - All LS postcodes
- Barnsley – S70, S71, S72, S73, S74, S75
- Bradford – All BD postcodes
- Doncaster – DN1, DN2, DN3, DN4, DN5, DN6
- Harrogate - HG1, HG2, HG3, (partly) and Knaresborough - HG5
- Huddersfield – HD1, HD2, HD3, HD4, HD5 and Brighouse - HD6
- Halifax – HX1, HX2, HX3, HX4 and Elland – HX5
- Selby – YO8
- Wakefield – All WF
- York – YO1, YO10, YO19, YO23, YO24, YO26, YO30, YO31, YO32
(Please get in touch if you’re not in these areas as we are growing this service)
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