Good Cup, Bad Cup

Narrative

Each year, the UK uses 3.2 billion disposable coffee cups, and England alone 5.35 billion single-use plates and cutlery – most of which are plastic.
As a result, there are increasing commitments to legislation that will ban single-use items in the service industry. For example, from June 2022, single-use plastic items, including cutlery, plates, stirrers, polystyrene cups and food containers, will be banned in Scotland, with the rest of the UK likely to follow suit.

On 22 July, the SMI Hub invited a cohort of Greater Manchester independent cafes to the Henry Royce Institute Hub Building for an afternoon workshop on sustainability.

Businesses from across Manchester joined the SMI Hub to learn more about single-use items. The workshop focussed on how their components are made, used and disposed of, and participants gained an insight into where they could reduce costs, waste, resources, and environmental impact. The session also provided examples of how to incentivise and encourage customers use reusable cups.

The workshop closed with the provision of resources and videos to support the cohort’s sustainability journeys.

Impact date	May 2022 → Jun 2022
Category of impact	Economic, Environmental, Awareness and understanding, Attitudes and behaviours
Impact level	Benefit