Should there be a tax placed on throw away coffee/tea cups?

The government has given short shrift to a suggestion by one minister that disposable coffee cups, like plastic bags, should be taxed to make us think twice before using them. There are “no plans” for such a tax, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. But with campaigners like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall focusing the spotlight on the problem, pressure is mounting on retailers, consumers and the government to do something.

Some campaigners have pointed the finger at coffee chains, for misleadingly printing the three arrows recycling symbol on cups even though they are “virtually impossible” to recycle. But Peter Goodwin, co-founder of Simply Cups, a specialist paper cup recycler, says it is possible to recycle coffee cups - albeit only at two specialist facilities in the UK.

The problem has been, he says, that businesses simply haven’t believed it was worth doing, and consumers haven’t been much bothered about it either – until recently. “The technology is now there to strip the plastic lining off the cups, so they are now a viable thing to recycle,” Goodman says. “But more businesses need to see the value in turning waste into a resource, and so do consumers. This is a call to action now – the systems are in place to do something about this problem.