Paper cup recycling pioneers return to the UK market to complete unfinished business and reignite the waste market
Circular economy expert, co-cre8, has launched a new nationwide paper cup collection and recycling service that’s designed for all participants in the lifecycle, regardless of size or volume.
The founders of co-cre8 have a strong pedigree in this market. The team established the UK’s first nationwide paper cup collection and recycling service in 2014, which was subsequently sold, and are currently managing The Cup Collective1 to increase cup recycling on an industrial scale across the EU.
“Our pioneering service kick-started paper cup recycling in 2014 yet, despite the media furore and consumer outrage over the billions of paper cups that are disposed of each year, still less than one per cent of all cups are currently being recycled in the UK after use”, says Peter Goodwin, Managing Director and Co-founder of co-cre8.
“With a decade’s worth of experience, we aim to break this deadlock with a layered collection and recycling service that will meet the needs of both foodservice chains, independent coffee shops, and everything in between”, added Peter.
Although the proposed UK Mandatory Paper Cup Take Back Legislation has been delayed until 2025, businesses can now benefit from the cost savings attributed to cup recycling whilst also fulfilling their commitments to generating less waste. In Brussels, for example, the cup recycling scheme, managed by co-cre8, is already reducing waste disposal costs by more than 50 per cent by using co-cre8’s own innovative cup collection stations, that stack cups, rather than bagging them loose. Furthermore, when these stations are put in the right place more than 40 per cent of dine-in cups can be collected without contamination for easy recycling.
James Capel, Chairman and Co-founder of co-cre8 says, “Our re-entry into the waste market is certainly a case of unfinished business. Cup recycling has stagnated while we’ve been away and our mission is to change that, by increasing the availability of proven cup collection infrastructure and services that ensure a much more circular outcome for these desirable high-quality fibres”.
co-cre8’s Paper Cup Recycling Scheme is open to all businesses of all sizes, across the whole of the UK and will register as an official DEFRA Take Back Scheme participant. A layered collection solution will be offered, which will be dependent on the volume of used cups generated by the business and includes backhaul or on-site collection, for larger users, and post-back for smaller businesses. co-cre8 will also offer expert guidance on how to implement cup recycling at site as well as providing a range of intuitive, brandable, and highly-durable cup collection stations that are proven to optimise efficiency and dramatically reduce contamination. Members will also be able to securely access real time data on the exact weight of collected and recycled, enabling the business to continually improve performance and to ensure compliance with UK Mandatory Take Back legislation, when introduced.
For more information on co-cre8’s paper cup recycling service please visit here.