Don’t Be a Mug – Bring a Mug

On Monday 5th November, Taste Imperial introduced a 15p charge on disposable coffee cups across its outlets on all campuses. The environmentally-conscious initiative is part of the Greening Imperial campaign which has already seen the removal of single-use plastic cups from water dispensers and introduced a “bring-your-own container” scheme since the summer. The initiative follows in the footsteps of other universities and high-street coffee shops such as Starbucks, Costa and Pret-A-Manager.

Single-use “paper” cups are, in fact, laminated with a difficult-to-remove polythene film to prevent the hot liquid from seeping into the paper and cannot be recycled by conventional processes. Although technically recyclable, only three recycling facilities in the UK are able to process paper cups. Not only does their production contribute to greenhouse gas emission, of the 2.5 billion coffee cups disposed of in the past year in Britain, only 1% were recycled. Of the remainder, some have been incinerated, some have been buried and some will end up in waterways. The polythene lining breaks down into micro-plastics which are potentially toxic to marine life and have recently been found in public drinking water – with unknown effects on human health. According to Greening Imperial (a cross-campus initiative that aims to transform Imperial into a university that is a pioneer in sustainability), the College disposes of 2,750 single-use cups each day.

Taste Imperial has worked to promote its reward scheme for those who bring reusable containers in which customers with a Yoyo account receive points that can be used to get a free coffee. This does not however benefit those who does not use Yoyo and, although reducing waste, could incentivise increased coffee consumption. More exciting to many is that branded glass/bamboo KeepCups are available for purchase at the till for £6 (or £9 with a water-bottle) with the first hot drink included free.

What has the reaction from staff and students been? Generally people are in support of reducing waste. However, some students have been confused by the pricing. In contrast with Costa and Starbucks, Taste Imperial has opted to add the 15p surcharge to the price displayed rather than offer a discount. This may discourage students from purchasing coffee on campus, although, at less than £2, even with the surcharge, a student cup of coffee is still less dear than high-street competitors.

Will you raise a toast to the work that Greening Imperial is doing? If so - be sure to bring a cup.