Airports are full of coffee shops for the bleary-eyed travellers catching flights at ungodly hours, or for those buzzing for their trips abroad.
So, to reduce the amount of plastic waste that comes from their disposable cups, Starbucks is offering reusable ones at Gatwick Airport.
Instead of taking the cups with you on holiday, there will be ‘cup check-in points’ dotted around the airport where you can dispose of them before boarding your flight.
Starbucks joins forces with Hubbub – a green living charity – in hopes to cut paper cup waste and address throw-away culture.
There will be five check-in points available throughout the international airport’s South Terminal.
The one-month trial will run alongside other airport initiatives to increase cup reuse and recycling.
It is hoped that 7,000 disposable coffee cups will be saved from use through the trial.
How it works
- Starbucks customers will be offered the option of having their drink in a reusable cup when they get to the till
- Customers keep hold of the cup for the time they are in the airport
- Before boarding, cups can be returned to one of five ‘Cup Check-In’ points located throughout the terminal, including at the Starbucks store
- Cups will be collected by Gatwick’s waste management team to be washed and sterilised in line with the airport’s safety standards and returned to Starbucks ready for customer consumption
- Any customers wishing to choose a disposable paper cup are still welcome and able to do so and will incur the 5p paper cup charge that is live in all Starbucks stores
At the moment, Gatwick claims to recycle five million of the seven million cups used at the airport each year.
But as recycling requires empty cups to be placed in the dry recycling bins, Starbucks and Hubbub want to increase reusable cups and limit the number of cups used in travel hubs where on-the-go packaging is prevalent.
The plan is to trial 2,000 reusable cups to see if the scheme can be successful.
Even if only 250 customers opt for reusable each day, it could see more than 7,000 paper cups saved in one month.
Fans fell in love with the design of the reusable cups last month when a 24-ounce colour-changing cup was introduced.
The Gatwick ones may not look as colourful, but at least you’ll be helping the environment.
So don’t forget to grab yours next time you’re travelling through the airport.
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