Starbucks, Costa and McDonalds pledge to slash paper cup waste
More than thirty companies including Costa, McDonalds, Pret a Manger and Starbucks have pledged to drive up paper cup recovery and recycling levels.
Thirty companies have signed an industry-wide manifesto, launched by the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) and Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group (PCRRG) this week, which aims to boost paper cup recovery and recycling "significantly" by 2020.
The signatories include raw material suppliers, cup manufacturers and retail high street brands, waste and recovery operators and paper re-processors.
Mark Pawsey MP, chairman of the all party parliamentary group on packaging, said: "I'm encouraged to see industry working so closely together to find and implement solutions for recovering and recycling paper cups."
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) echoed Pawsey's views. A spokesman said: "Defra has recognised the manifesto and views it as a welcome example of industry working together."
The manifesto pledges: "The paper cup supply chain agrees to work together to ensure paper cups are designed, used, disposed of and collected to maximise the opportunities for recycling by further investment and funding of recycling, disposal and collection projects."
Targets will be met through a manifesto work programme which will have delegated working groups run by a board of elected members.
Martin Kersh, executive director of the Foodservice Packaging Association said the association "is pleased to be able to work on this important project to support and increase the sustainability of the industry."
Neil Whittall, chairman of the Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group, said: "It is only through increased industry collaboration that the pace of change can be increased to meet the challenge that has been set out. We are grateful for the recognition and support that Defra has given the project, and to all the signatories who will make this happen."
The signatories to the manifesto are:
4 Aces Ltd
Baxter Storey
Benders Paper Cups
Bio bean
British Plastics Association
British Soft Drinks Association
Bunzl
Caffe Nero
Clean Up Britain
Compass
Costa/ Whitbread Group Plc
CPI
Cropper
Dart Products Europe
DS Smith
First Mile Limited
Greggs
Grundon
Havi
Huhtamaki
Keep Britain Tidy
Keep Scotland Beautiful
Kent Resource Partnership
LARAC
Marks and Spencer
Maxabel
McDonald's Restaurants
Moto Hospitality Limited
Nestle
Packaging Federation
Pelican Rouge Coffee Solutions
Pret a Manger
Seda UK Ltd
South Cambridgeshire DC and Cambridge City Council
Starbucks Coffee Company
Stora Enso
University of Sheffield Advanced Resource Efficiency
Centre
Vegware
Veolia
Waitrose/ John Lewis Partnership
Yum! Brands/ KFC
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