Gatwick and Starbucks begin reusable coffee cup trial
Gatwick has become the first airport in the UK to trial a reusable coffee cup scheme, in partnership with Starbucks.
Customers at the Gatwick South Starbucks will be able to opt for a free reusable cup, which can then be dropped off at a designated point when empty.
A sign will remind passengers to return their cup before they board a flight.
The scheme has been launched by Starbucks in partnership with environmental charity Hubbub and the trial aims to put 2,000 reusable cups in circulation throughout the terminal.
Starbucks says that if 250 customers opted for a reusable cup each day, more than 7,000 paper cups could be saved in one month.
Trewin Restorick, chief executive and co-founder of Hubbub said: "We know people care about waste, but it’s often hard to do the right thing when travelling"
At Gatwick, more than 5.3m of the 7m paper cups used each year are already being recycled but Starbucks and Hubbub have identified the potential to increase reusable cup options as well to limit the number of cups used in travel hubs where on-the-go packaging is prevalent, the Guardian reports.
In July last year, Starbucks became the first to introduce a 5p charge on paper cups, with proceeds going to Hubbub to carry out environmental projects and research, such as the Gatwick trial.
The company plans to track the number of returned cups, experimenting with different collection points to maximize the return rate.
Jaz Rabadia, senior manager of energy and sustainability at Starbucks in the UK, said: "What will be really interesting is to see where the cups end up."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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