British supermarket chain bans disposable coffee cups
Waitrose, the UK's leading food retailer, has announced that it will no longer have disposable cups for customers' coffee
British supermarket chain Waitrose offers a free coffee or tea to its loyal shoppers. From the end of April, however, anyone wanting a free drink will need to bring their own reusable cup. The measure begins to apply initially only in some units of the network and is part of the effort to reduce waste and waste of plastic items.
Since China stopped accepting some types of recyclable waste, countries like the United Kingdom and the United States have been facing difficulties in dealing with their waste, which puts pressure on awareness campaigns, reduction of consumption and production of unnecessary waste and also for implementation of new laws to combat the growing production of waste.
- China wants to stop being the 'trash of the world'. And now?
Waitrose has joined this effort, announcing that by the end of the European fall it plans to ban all disposable coffee cups from its stores. Initially, nine stores will adopt the measure on April 30, as a way to test the change before it is implemented in all units of the retail chain across the UK. According to the company, the measure should save the disposal of 52 million cups per year.
A recent survey by the British parliament indicates that the country throws in the trash about 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups a year. These cups cannot be recycled by the normal system as they are composed of a mixture of cardboard with an inner layer of polyethylene, which is difficult to remove. The result is that only one in 400 cups is recycled. The rest accumulates in landfills, dumps and eventually can escape and end its life as ocean waste.
- What is ocean plastic?
- Understand the environmental impact of plastic waste on the food chain
- The oceans are turning to plastic
- What is the origin of the plastic that pollutes the oceans?
Waitrose hopes the measure will help raise awareness among customers of the environmental impact caused by disposing of coffee cups. The move is bold and has been applauded by environmental entities.
