Tuesday 1 October 2019

Pret puts a lid on coffee cup waste with recycling scheme rollout

Pret A Manger has announced it is rolling out its recycling scheme for coffee cups to more than 350 stores across the UK.

Almost 90% its shops nationwide have recycling points, with customers able to leave any brand paper coffee cup for recycling.

The materials will be used to create stationery and packaging products rather than ending up in landfill.

The initiative, which follows successful pilot projects in London, Leeds and Glasgow, is part of Pret’s wider efforts to encourage and incentivise greener action.

Last January, it doubled its discount for customers who bring their own reusable cups to 50p and claims usage has increased almost 20-fold since then.

Pret says more than 150,000 drinks are now served in reusable cups every week, with customers saving more than six million paper cups since January 2018.

Laura Gutowski, Director of Strategy and Sustainability adds: “Doing our bit for the planet is enormously important to us at Pret. We are absolutely committed to improving recycling rates of our coffee cups and we want it to be as easy as possible for customers – and those passing our shops – to get involved.

“That’s why we have put our recycling points on the shop floor, rather than hidden away behind the counter and why we’ll happily accept any high street coffee cups, not just those from Pret."