International Coffee Day: How are coffee chains in the UK tackling plastic waste?

Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Boston Tea Party and AMT Coffee are just two of the companies implementing measures to encourage customers to use less plastic in the last few months, and major chains have been offering a discount to those who bring in reusable cups for years. Such measures are now more necessary than ever before, with a report from the Environmental Audit Committee last year stating that the UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year, and less than one per cent of those are recycled. Costa Coffee The UK’s largest coffee shop company has promised to recycle as many cups as it sells by 2020, which would surmount to roughly half a billion coffee cups a year. “The revolutionary technology will help tackle an estimated 2.5 billion coffee cups sent to waste every year and will help save countless amounts of trees.” Starbucks The American coffee company offers UK customers a 25p discount on hot drinks if they bring their own reusable cup.