The research found that financial incentives, re-usable alternatives and clear messaging reminding customers of the environmental impact of single-use coffee cups all had a direct impact on consumer behavior. Image credit: Cardiff University

The use of disposable coffee cups could be reduced by 50-300 million annually according to research announced by leading coffee roaster Bewley’s.

An estimated 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are used in the UK each year, creating approximately 25,000 tons of waste.

The research, conducted from September to December 2016 by Cardiff University, on behalf of Bewley’s, tested a range of measures that could encourage the use of re-usable coffee cups.

The research found that financial incentives, re-usable alternatives and clear messaging reminding customers of the environmental impact of single-use coffee cups all had a direct impact on consumer behavior.

The study found that a charge on disposable cups increased the use of re-usable coffee cups by 3.4 percent, environmental messaging in cafes increased the use of re-usable coffee cups by 2.3 percent, the availability of re-usable cups led to an increase of 2.5 percent and the distribution of free re-usable cups led to a further increase of 4.3 percent.

The study found that the provision of free, re-usable alternatives combined with clear environmental messaging and a charge on disposable cups increased the use of reusable cups from 5.1 percent to 17.4 percent.

According to the research, on average, the use of reusable coffee cups could be increased by up to 12.5 percent with a combination of measures. The UK’s usage of an estimated 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups each year could be cut by up to 300 million coffee cups.

The most notable finding was that, while a charge on disposable cups increased the use of re-usable coffee cups, a discount on re-usable coffee cups had no impact on their usage.

As one of the largest foodservice coffee businesses in the UK and Ireland, Bewley’s has been working with industry partners on the sustainability of coffee cups for some time. Louise Whitaker, Head of Marketing at Bewley’s UK, said: “There is a huge amount of waste being sent to landfill each year, and promoting reusable cups is part of the solution."

While it may be difficult to persuade customers to change the way they drink their daily cup of coffee or tea, companies have a responsibility to play their part in solving the coffee cup waste problem.