Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage coffee chains to recycle paper coffee cups.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Paper coffee cups are captured under the Packaging Waste Regulations. The UK meets its packaging waste recovery and recycling targets through a market-based approach. Packaging producers who put more than 50 tonnes a year of packaging materials on the market, and have an annual turnover of more than £2 million, are required to recover and recycle a proportion of their packaging waste. As a result most major coffee chains pick up a financial obligation to recycle their packaging waste, including paper coffee cups, through this mechanism.

Defra is also working with campaigners and industry to develop a National Litter Strategy for England.

In addition, we are aware of many major chains who are taking their own action to incentivise environmentally friendly behaviour, for example by offering a discount on drinks if customers bring their own reusable cups.