Lyn Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to reduce the number of non-recyclable paper coffee cups used in the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Paper coffee cups are covered by the Packaging Waste Regulations. The UK meets its packaging waste recovery and recycling targets through a market-based approach. These targets are reviewed periodically to encourage more recycling of packaging, including paper and cardboard. 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, major coffee chains pick up a financial obligation to recycle their packaging waste, including paper coffee cups, through this mechanism.

We are aware of many major chains who are taking their own action to incentivise environmentally friendly behaviour, for example, offering a reusable cup discount on drinks if people bring their own cups.

Industry has also put in place the Paper Cup Recycling and Recovery Group (PCRRG). As part of this, a manifesto signed by over 40 companies was launched on 27 June this year, with the aim of “significantly increasing paper cup recovery and recycling rates by 2020”.