Disposable packaging waste and the polluter pays principle: introduction of a charge for disposable coffee cups

Abstract

The coffee shop industry is growing rapidly. Almost half of all hot drinks are now sold in disposable cups. Almost all disposable cups are not recycled due to their tightly bonded plastic lining which is difficult to remove. Another significant barrier to the widespread recycling of disposable coffee cups is the challenges of recycling packaging that has come into contact with food or drink. Some cup manufacturers and coffee shops have recently made voluntary commitments or provide in-store recycling. However, industry’s voluntary commitments have been inconsistent and ineffective.

In UK, several coffee shops offer customers a 25p discount for using a reusable cup. However, just 1-2% of sales receive this discount. It could be because discounts are not an effective way to change behaviour. In our opinion, charges are much more effective than discounts. A charge creates an incentive for consumers to find a more financially sustainable alternative, reducing the amount of disposable packaging used. This has been demonstrated by the success of the plastic carrier bag charge that saw an 83% reduction in use of plastic bags in the first year (2015-2016). A disposable cup charge could be a popular environmental policy, particularly following the success of the plastic bag charge. A “latte levy” on disposable coffee cups, based on the “polluter pays principle”, would remove some of the financial burden from local authorities and council taxpayers.

The Environmental Audit Committee (a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom) therefore recommend that the UK Government introduces a minimum 25p levy on disposable cups, to be paid by the consumer on top of the price of the coffee. The revenue from the 25p coffee cup charge should be used to support local councils to provide food packaging recycling bins and waste management. A proportion of the revenue could also be used to support a wide-reaching public communications campaign that would provide easily digestible information on best-practice recycling while on-the-go.

In this context, our aim is to examine how changes to the tax system or the introduction of new charges could change the behaviour of companies and consumers to become more sustainable.