Launched in Glasgow in January, the cup movement has been developed by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful in response to growing public concern about the environmental impact of single-use items.
Roseanna Cunningham MSP, cabinet secretary for the Environment said: “It’s fantastic to see two leading Glasgow retail operators standing up and taking positive action on the issue of single-use cups. A number of retailers are already supporting Cup Movement in Glasgow and I hope that many other businesses will follow their example.”
With an estimated 95 million single-use cups being used in the Greater Glasgow area every year, the movement project will tackle the issue by transforming recycling infrastructure and encouraging people to adopt more sustainable behaviours.
Glasgow Fort and Buchanan Galleries will also sign up to the movement’s recycling service, provided in collaboration with Simply Cups, which will divert millions of cups from their bins and instead transform them into second-life materials.
Phil Goodman, centre director at Glasgow Fort, added: “With almost 100 outlets, Glasgow Fort welcomes more than 40,000 visitors every day. This is an opportunity to make a big impact, both by engaging more people to make more sustainable choices and by providing an effective solution that will significantly reduce our own waste footprint. Involvement in Cup Movement forms part of our centre’s wider sustainability goals and we are delighted to be playing our part and supporting Glasgow and Keep Scotland Beautiful in this mission.”