The #TakeItBack initiative highlights the 65 major coffee chain stores in the city centre that will take back any cup for recycling.
A survey by Keep Scotland Beautiful found that 70% of Glasgow’s coffee drinkers wanted to recycle their cup but only 12% did so successfully. Glaswegians will be able to recycle their coffee cups at retailers including Costa, McDonalds and Pret.
The campaign was started due to a growing concern about the environmental impact of using single-use plastics.
Paul Wallace, campaigns and social innovation manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Everyone needs to play their part if we are to reduce the nearly 500 million cups that end up in landfill or as litter each year. #TakeItBack is a perfect example of this, bringing together the council, retailers and the public to create change.
“Ultimately, this initiative is providing the opportunity for everyone to make a small yet impactful choice by recycling their single-use cup. Initial data from Pret indicates that they are recycling an average of 15,000 cups per month across their five participating stores.
“We hope that by raising awareness of the in-house cup recycling facilities available, we will see more and more people holding on to their cups to ensure that they get recycled.”
The scheme is part of the charity’s Cup Movement in Glasgow, which has collected over 300,000 cups for recycling.
Councillor Richardson, city convener for sustainability & carbon reduction was in George Square to see the updated bin signage. She added: “The Cup Movement in Glasgow is about reducing the consumption of single-use cups, promoting reusable alternatives and making single-use cups easier to recycle.
“I hope that people will stop to think when they are throwing away their single use cup, pay attention to the new labelling and #TakeItBack.”