Coffee cup composting infrastructure 'not fit for purpose'

Limited composting infrastructure is preventing major coffee retailers from switching to more sustainable biodegradable cups, according to coffee and packaging industry leaders.

The British Coffee Association told The Grocer the current composting infrastructure would struggle to keep up with demand.

“When it comes to compostable cups specifically, there is currently a capacity issue in how many cups can be composted at any one time and the volume of cups sold on the high street far exceeds the capacity to compost them, so for the large retailers this isn’t yet a reality. But progress will continue as all retailers are committed to solving cup waste in the most sustainable way,” said a BCA spokesman.

Although restaurant chain Leon has already switched to compostable cups, sustainability and digital marketing assistant David O’Leary said there was a limit to what current composting infrastructure could currently cope with.

“Compostable packaging generally is tricky as it can only be composted in industrial composters, of which there are relatively few in the UK and even fewer waste streams set up to route the materials to them.”

Lucy Frankel, communications director for biodegradable packaging company Vegware, said: “I think that on the go recycling is still a major challenge that requires a lot of changes to both behaviour and consumer education and of course infrastructure of bins that are available. I think that’s why we haven’t seen a major shift as yet for high street retailers to compostable packaging.”

Vegware has developed its own composting collection service for businesses in Scotland called Close the Loop, which it is seeking to roll out to England later this year.

Popularity for compostable cups has soared since the ‘latte levy’ was first proposed by the Environmental Audit Committee earlier this month, which suggested a 25p charge for every disposable cup a customer uses.

“We have seen a big spike in interest since the latte levy announcement, as businesses realise that sustainability is no longer just a nice-to-have, but vital to please consumers,” said Vegware group recycling consultant Eilidh Brunton.

Vegware has hit £20m in sales over the past month, representing a 35% growth year on year. It now sells compostable packaging in more than 25 countries around the world.