National news: MPs in call for 25p "latte levy" on every disposable cup of coffee

Consumers should be charged a 25p levy on disposable coffee cups, MPs have recommended.
A 25p tax is being proposed on each disposable coffee cupA 25p tax is being proposed on each disposable coffee cup
A 25p tax is being proposed on each disposable coffee cup

The revenue would be used to pay for improved recycling facilities.

All disposable coffee cups should be recycled by 2023, and they should be banned if the target is not met, the Environmental Audit Committee said.

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The committee is calling on the Government to introduce a 25p charge on disposable cups on top of the price of a coffee, with the money raised used to improve the UK's reprocessing facilities and "binfrastructure" to ensure cups and other food and drink packaging is recycled.

Some shops give money off the price of a hot drink for customers who use reusable cups, such as Pret A Manger, which has just doubled its discount to 50p.

But the committee said uptake of these offers was low at only 1% to 2% of coffee purchases, and consumers were more responsive to a charge than a discount based on the success of the 5p single-use plastic bag levy.

The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year.

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Almost all of them are incinerated, exported or sent to landfill because their plastic lining makes them costly to recycle.

The committee heard that less than 1% of coffee cups are recycled because there are only three facilities in the UK that can split the paper and plastic components.

But most people dispose of their coffee cups in recycling bins believing they will be recycled.

The committee said cups from cafes that do not have in-store recycling systems should be printed with "not widely recycled" labels to boost consumer awareness, while cafes that do have recycling systems should label their cups as "recyclable in store only".

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It is also calling on the Government to set fees for producers who make packaging that is difficult to recycle.

Committee chairwoman Mary Creagh said: "The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year, enough to circle the planet five-and-a-half times.

"Almost none are recycled and half-a-million a day are littered.

"Coffee cup producers and distributors have not taken action to rectify this and government has sat on its hands.

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"The UK's coffee shop market is expanding rapidly, so we need to kick-start a revolution in recycling.

"We're calling for action to reduce the number of single use cups, promote reusable cups over disposable cups and to recycle all coffee cups by 2023."

She added: "Coffee shops have been pulling the wool over customers' eyes, telling us their cups can be recycled when less than 1% are.

"Taxpayers are footing the bill for disposing of the billions of coffee cups thrown away each year, whether or not they are coffee drinkers.

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"It is only right that producers should bear more of the financial burden to help recycle their packaging, so my committee is calling for producer responsibility reform that rewards businesses that use sustainable packaging and makes those that don't face higher charges."