National Trust properties are binning single use cups in a trial with recycled plastic cup maker Circular & Co. The scheme could result in huge savings for the National Trust, if successful and reduce their carbon emissions at the same time.
The National Trust properties in the UK see massive numbers of guests each year – between 25-26 million visitors – and many of those guests buy a cup of tea or coffee to drink while they walk around the property or its grounds.
The trust uses around 7 million single use cups a year, costing them more than £1m and costing the environment too – emitting the equivalent of driving three million miles (763 tonnes of CO2) in 2023/24.
They are working to reduce their carbon emissions and aim to phase them out by the end of 2026. To this end, they have a variety of ways to avoid single use cups:
- Use a ceramic cup in one of the tearooms
- Bring your own reusable cup and the property will give you 25p off your drink
- Buy a reusable cup from the property and your first hot drink is free
- Borrow a reusable cup in their ‘tap and reuse’ scheme
The tap and reuse scheme is running at selected National Trust properties. To take part in the scheme, simply pay for your drink as usual and tap your bank card on the tap and reuse reader. This links your cup to your bank card. If you return the cup to a collection point within seven days, there is no charge. If you don’t, your card is charged for the cup.
The trial uses reusable cups from Circular & Co. They make reusable cups from recycled plastic and they work with companies on branded cups, for example Starbucks, Fortnum & Mason and Octopus Energy.
The ‘returnables’ address a number of consumer issues with reusable and returnable cup schemes:
- Remembering to take a reusable cup with you when you go on a day out
- Remembering to return the cup at the end of the walk, especially when you are on the other side of the grounds
- Paying for a returnable cup if you are planning to return it
- Paying extra for tea & coffee if no cup is provided and you use your own cup
Tap and reuse solves all these problems and will help to reduce the environmental impact of single use cups, even when they are paper cups. And the scheme can be profitable for the business.
Circular & Co says, “You can start to make a saving against single use costs from as low as 100 Returnable serves a day and after just 2 serves a Returnable cup starts to make a CO2 saving. We know the legislation is coming, so why not get ahead now. It’s better for you, your bottom line and your customers. We think it’s the most premium drinking experience on the market. Just try one, they are SO much better!”
Origin Coffee has already piloted a successful returnable scheme with Circular & Co. They reported that 30% of customers chose returnable cups (10x higher than expected) and 83-90% of customers returned cups during the pilot, saving 2,790 single use cups from the bin and 153.45 kg of CO₂e.
If the National Trust scheme is successful too, it will lead to big savings for both the trust and the environment. Find out more about Circular & Co’s tap and reuse scheme on their website at circularandco.com/tap-and-reuse