About the Project and Cup Recycling

A staggering 2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away annually in the UK, (only 0.25% of which are recycled)*. An estimated 8.5 million coffee cups are disposed of yearly in Northampton, of which very few are recycled.

The plastic coating used on coffee cups is synonymous with making them difficult to recycle. Fortunately, in the UK there is the infrastructure and capacity to recycle all coffee cups. It is a behavioural change we need to implement.

Where does The Cup Fund come in?

The Cup Fund launched the Up for The Cup campaign following the success of the Leeds By Example campaign which recycled an impressive 300,000 disposable cups.

The University of Northampton is leading the project and has partnered with Grosvenor Shopping, Northampton General Hospital, The Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northamptonshire Waste Partnership and Northampton Train Station. The partnership  is one of twelve successful projects to receive funding to initiate the campaign. This has enabled the purchase and branding of the cup collection bins as well as supporting initial collection costs and PR & marketing materials.

Following the period of lockdown a revival of the project and cup collections is planned across our campus and partners as our businesses begin a period of new normality.

Here’s a short video clip which explains the process of cup recycling:

* House of Commons (2017) House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Disposable Packaging: Coffee Cups. London: House of Commons.