The new scheme aims to encourage Selecta vending customers across the UK from businesses, schools and hospitals to recycle their paper cups. The initiative has been developed in conjunction with Veolia to transform the paper cups into ‘high end’ fibre goods used as packaging for perfumes, shopping bags and notepads.
The SelectaGreen scheme is available to more than 10,000 customers across the UK and it will ‘ensure’ millions of cups every week are collected for processing.
Emily Stoten, marketing director of Selecta UK, said: “At Selecta we take sustainability and our responsibilities to the environment seriously. The recycling of a paper coffee cup is a complex process. Whilst our cups can already be recycled, we recognise that it isn’t always easy for our customers to do this due to supply chain challenges, particularly when they are not based in city centres.
“As the largest supplier of vending machines in Europe, this is a significant step forward in removing a barrier for businesses and locations such as colleges and hospitals to contribute to recycling in the UK as it will ensure millions of cups a week can be collected for processing to be used in the paper pulp manufacturing industry.”
She said statistics showed that 2.5bn cups were thrown away in the UK every year with fewer than 1% recycled. And a recent report published by MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee had claimed that the UK produces 30,000 tonnes of coffee cup waste every year, with just 0.25% of coffee cups recycled.
Keith McGurk, regional director for Veolia, added: We are delighted to partner with Selecta to deliver Veolia ’s innovative solution for their customers and help improve their environmental performance. With distribution points being far and wide and limited access to recycling points, our challenge has been to capture their customers’ cups.”
Since 2017 Veolia claims it has already diverted more than 60m cups from energy recovery to landfill.