Introduce a charge on disposable cups

In the UK we use 7 million disposable coffee cups everyday. That’s 2.5 billion every year. Almost all of them are incinerated, exported or sent to landfills. As their plastic lining not only makes them costly to recycle but because their are only three facilities in the UK that can split the paper and plastic components. Therefore only 1% of coffee cups are recycled.

The introduction of a 5p charge on carrier bags in 2015 saw an enormous 83% reduction in use. As consumers were more responsive to a change than a discount based on the success of the 5p single - use plastic bag levy. Therefore although some shops offer discount for anyone who bring their own cup, it is still not as effective as a charge. Which is why I suggest bringing in a 10p charge for those who want to use the coffee cups.

This one small change to our everyday life, could make our planet a more sustainable one. As millions of trees are cut down each year to make these coffee cups, which are ruining not only our air quality but destroying animals home and wasting tones of energy in the process.

I hope if enough people sign this petition, then it will force the government to take action and introduce this as a law.