The environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful has launched the Cup Movement, a campaign to address the prevalence of single-use beverage cups, in Glasgow.
The Cup Movement, described as “Scotland’s first cup recycling and behaviour change campaign”, is a trial initiative aimed at promoting recycling of existing single-use cups and encouraging Glasgow residents to consider their consumption of disposable cups; with the eventual goals of substituting disposable cups with reusable ones and curtailing the influx of cups which end up as litter or in landfills. Around 95 million single-use cups are used in the Greater Glasgow region per year.
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.”
As part of the campaign, the Cup Movement has partnered with cup recycling body Simply Cups, which will take the lead on collecting and recycling used cups and turn them into reusable products. In addition to the Scottish Government, the campaign has the support of Glasgow City Council – which has been confirmed as the first official member of the collection service – and major businesses including Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Greggs.
Derek Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “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.”
If the Cup Movement is successful in Glasgow, it will be rolled out across other Scottish cities.
