With the backing of the Scottish government, environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, launched the ‘Cup Movement ‘ yesterday (31 January) and will try to tackle the issue ‘head on’ by transforming recycling infrastructure and encouraging people to adopt more sustainable behaviours.
Scottish Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “I am delighted to be supporting the Cup Movement in Glasgow. With up to 500 million single-use cups being used in Scotland every year, we all need to do our bit to make sure they don’t end up littering our streets and our seas.
“Tackling our reliance on throwaway cups and encouraging people to make the right choices are important steps in helping build a sustainable future for Scotland. That’s why the we decided to remove single-use coffee cups from the Scottish Government’s main buildings last year. I’m sure the people of Glasgow will get behind the movement with equal passion.”
Also supported by Glasgow city council, and brands such as Costa Coffee, Greggs, McDonalds, Pret a Manger and Starbucks, the charity will work with its partners to encourage the city’s regular cup users to ‘think carefully’ about their everyday choices.
Over the longer term, the initiative will focus on ‘inspiring’ people to move to reusable cups and encouraging behaviour change.
Cup recyclers, Simply Cups, will lead on the collection and recycling service, giving cups ‘a new lease of life’ by turning them into reusable products.
Derek Robertson, chief executive officer of Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented: “The Cup Movement in Glasgow is a truly collaborative initiative that has been 18 months in the planning with some of the UK’s leading coffee chains.
“By bringing together businesses, institutions and people, we will be working hard to reach each and every cup before it becomes litter or landfill.
“Whether it be through recycling or switching to a reusable cup, we want people to realise they have an opportunity to be part of a positive movement for change.”