An independent coffee chain is thought to be the first in the country to ban the sale of hot drinks in disposable cups.
The ban will begin as of 1st June, and will affect all of Boston Tea Party’s 21 branches, including the one in Cheltenham. If customers wish to buy a coffee to take away, they’ll have to either bring their own cup, buy one in-store, or ‘loan’ one out – paying a deposit and returning it to the store.
Park Life spoke to Cheltenham manager Dale Allison about the changes made:
“Our mission at the start of the year was to stop issuing single use plastics and the coffee cups are the last piece in the jigsaw. It’s great to be leading the way in making this change and we hope our customers get behind what we are trying to do”.
We’re taking a stand and banning all single use takeaway coffee cups from 1st June. What does this mean? Find out here. https://t.co/KcTKqR7MxR #noexcuseforsingleuse #makingthingsbetter pic.twitter.com/T6zlLGze03
— Boston Tea Party (@BTPcafes) April 24, 2018
A national press release, on Boston Tea Party’s website, outlined why their company values have led them to create the ban.
“The last but arguably most important element of our 13 point manifesto is ‘We dream of a better world; we want BTP to make a positive contribution’. We’ve always seen this as a journey, one where we seek to find the right balance between ensuring we take sustainable ethical decisions and ensuring we have a sustainable business.”
As well as ditching the cups, BTP have also swapped all of their plastic straws for paper and their plastic water bottles to glass; moves that the company themselves have said are “long overdue”.
It is estimated that Brits are using 7 million disposable coffee cups every day, with around 1% are being recycled.
What have other companies in Cheltenham been doing to reduce waste?
Revolution – No longer give straws unless customers ask for them.
Wetherspoons – Both branches of the popular pub now provide customers with paper straws rather than plastic.
Costa Coffee – Offer customers a 25p discount if they take their own reusable cup.
To find out more and view some FAQ’s, click here.
