— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

Major coffee and food brands Costa Coffee (Houghton Regis, UK; www.costa.co.uk), Caffè Nero (London; www.caffenero.com), and the UK branch of Burger King (Salford; www.burgerking.co.uk) have teamed up to take part in “Borrow Cup”. The returnable cup initiative was set up by UK-based environmental charity Hubbub (London; www.hubbub.org.uk) and compatriot organisation Reposit (Wishaw; www.reposit.world).

The initiative, which is also being supported by the British Plastics Federation (BPF, London; www.bpf.co.uk), kicked off across local cafes in Glasgow on 27 January 2025, aiming to cut the 388 mn disposable cups used in Scotland every year.

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BPF director of plastics and flexible packaging Brian Lodge said the initiative “highlights how there is a real appetite among brands, retailers, and industry to reduce waste and develop viable reusable solutions”.

Customers can pay a deposit of GBP 1 (EUR 1.20) to get a Borrow Cup, which they can take to any participating venue to use again, swap for a clean one, get their deposit back, or receive a GBP 1 voucher.

Hubbub said its project is different from other past initiatives that have failed to progress because trials have been too small-scale, user experiences have been cumbersome, and further development has been limited by a lack of data-led traceability and measurement.

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The charity pointed out that its “pioneering collaboration” has created a high concentration of return points with more than 50 locations across the city.

According to Hubbub, disposable cups make up 30% of drinks waste in Glasgow’s on-street bins. Its research also shows that nearly three-quarters of UK residents own a reusable cup, but only a third use it at least once a month.

Hubbub co-founder Gavin Ellis is hoping his trial will shift customers’ habits and make reusable cups the norm. “We want to demonstrate how a collaborative model can improve the success of returnable cups and understand how it can become environmentally, commercially, and operationally viable. If successful, we are optimistic that this approach can be rolled out further across the UK.”

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The charity is working with CarbonBright (www.carbonbright.co) to assess the environmental impact of Borrow Cup. Packaging giant Berry Global (Evansville, Indiana, USA; www.berryglobal.com) is providing the reusable cups.