Levies on paper cups are “unnecessary” and could be replaced by a new recycling system being trialed in Dublin, according to an environmental campaigner. 

Specialised bins with segregated tubes for lids, cups, and liquid have recycled 46,500 cups across selected locations in the capital since October.

The bins, which were initially trialed in Belgium and the Netherlands by The Cup Collective, convert cups into ‘upcycled’ premium paper products such as stationery.

Chairperson of the Irish Paper Packaging Circulatory Alliance, Fearghal Carroll, told The Pat Kenny Show today that he hopes to expand the scheme across Ireland.

“We have looked at what’s happening internationally in terms of best practice and brought this to Dublin to prove the recycling ability of cups,” he said.

“We are now calling on the scheme to be advanced across Dublin and for policymakers to truly implement the solution that allows customers to recycle the product.

“Don’t charge extra for the product – it’s unnecessary.”

Pictured is a segregated recycling bin for coffee cups in use in Dublin. Image: supplied.

Mr Carroll said Ireland must be “very careful” when using levies.

“If you bring in cheap plastic reusables into the market, you end up with more dishwashers and more drying systems which use more water and energy,” he said.

“There’s a place for paper cups and there’s a place for reusables in the market.

“The issue is a blanket approach to one solution does not work – this scheme gets the recycling rates without even charging extra for the product.”

Materials

Materials collected by the bins are transported to the UK for processing, according to Mr Carroll, who said 100% of the paper cups are recycled.

“Another key thing is the cost-effectiveness of this for the café,” he said.

“When you put the raw material into general waste it can cost you three to four times more for café versus when you put it into the right stream from a recycling perspective.

“The consumer then also has confidence that what they are doing is contributing that the products are recycled.”

Availability

Mr Carroll said the more bins that are available to consumers, the more effective the scheme will be.

“The key thing with this [bin] is that you have a facility for the customer to segregate on the move, he said.

“The product is not the issue, you can bring the best-designed package and material to market but the infrastructure isn’t there on the premises or on the street for people to recycle.

“It’s not the products [paper cups] problem when the infrastructure is not there.”

The Cup Collective believes they can recycle 63 million paper cups in Ireland annually if the scheme is rolled out nationwide.

Businesses currently testing out the scheme in Dublin include Applegreen, Bewley’s Tea & Coffee, Butlers Chocolate Cafés, Insomnia Coffee Company and McDonald’s.

Main image: Coffee cups in a waste bin in London. Image: Marcin Rogozinski Zwei / Alamy Stock Photo