Have you ever found yourself on campus clutching endlessly onto an empty coffee cup, hoping to eventually come across a cardboard recycling bin? I predict that you inevitably settled for a ‘non-recyclables’ bin or passed off the cup as a ‘tin can.’
Despite the passing moment of guilt you probably felt – rest assured that this was not your fault. One day, when I too was searching for a bin in which to chuck my empty cup of joe, it dawned on me. There actually are no cardboard bins.
So I decided to test my hypothesis. I counted all the bins on the bottom floor of the Amory building and here’s what I found. Of the twenty-eight bins on the ground floor of the Amory building, a grand total of zero were designated for cardboard waste. Whilst this is only a small sample set, I urge you to repeat this experiment in any building on campus and I can almost guarantee that you will get the same results.
You might think that ‘paper’ bins are just the same. However, they have been designed to specifically keep out coffee cups, by virtue of having only a small slit – which you can see in the image below.
Students can buy coffee from a vast array of outlets on campus, including a Pret a Manger, a Starbucks and lots of University operated suppliers. When buying coffee from any University operated outlet however, a 40 pence levy is applied to single use cups. This would indicate therefore that the University of Exeter does consider sustainability a priority. Why then, are there no cardboard recycling bins?
Ellie, an Exeter University student, also noticed the lack of cardboard bins on campus. She said, ‘I went to put a piece of cardboard in the recycling yesterday, and there is just no space for cardboard.’
When I asked Kitty, a third-year student, if she had noticed the lack of cardboard bins on campus, she responded, ‘definitely!’
Daniele, a faculty member, has a hypothesis for the lack of cardboard bins.
He said, ‘it could be because coffee cups are not cardboard once they come into contact with liquid. On the other hand, if there is no paper recycling at all, it is a problem.’
On further investigation, I have found Daniele’s claim to be true. Coffee cups are not supposed to be disposed of in mixed-recycling due to the cross contamination caused by the milk in coffee.
However, this does not mean that they cannot be recycled – they just require their own bin in order to be processed properly. Furthermore, the lack of cardboard bins in general, poses a problem which is not exclusive to coffee cups.
Domingo, a third-year student [pictured below], said that after a recent protest on the war in Gaza, cleaners were seen throwing away stacks of leaflets into general waste due to the lack of paper and cardboard bins in The Forum. It therefore seems that Exeter University cleaners, like students, have limited access to proper recycling infrastructure.
Large Bins Outside the Forum, Noticeably Missing Cardboard Recycling
He went on to say, ‘it’s quite indicative of the university’s green washing face. They don’t really care about the climate crisis or recycling properly.
‘They do what makes them look good and they easily overlook things that everyone else looks at.’
Other students however, such as Daisy, do believe that the university cares about sustainability. When asked whether she thought sustainability was a main consideration for the university, she said, ‘yeah. I think It’s up there.’
Oscar, a fourth year Geography student [pictured below], says that the issue doesn’t bother him too much but that the University should ‘put its money where its mouth is.’
(Image: James Keegan)
He explained that the university advertises their sustainability aims around campus and on their website, so there ought to be more investment in this area.
He continued to say, ‘they could use the levy applied to single-use cups to pay for coffee cup recycling bins.’
I have reached out to the University Press Office for comment.
The following section was amended on 28/10/2024
A representative of the University’s Sustainability Office says that the decision to not have coffee cup recycling points is a conscious one.
In response to my article, they said that ‘if there were widespread coffee cup recycling bins around campus, it is likely that we would see increased uptake of these disposable cups in our food and drink outlets.’
I’m not entirely convinced by this position. While I agree that the uptake of reusable cups is positive, I fail to believe that the implementation of coffee cup recycling points would necessarily increase the number of people consuming coffee from disposable cups. It certainly wouldn’t be the case that those who have already invested in reusable cups will start using disposable ones again. Instead, coffee cup recycling bins would simply allow the thousands of disposable cups that are being used to be processed correctly.
Furthermore, while there is a sizeable minority of Exeter students who opt for reusable cups, the majority of coffee drinkers at the University of Exeter can still be seen clutching onto disposable brown paper cups.
Therefore, there needs to be more education and encouragement to get students to use reusable cups. The absence of coffee cup recycling points thus leading to mass uptake of reusable cups has not happened.
Part of the representative’s response has led me into a rabbit hole. They said, ‘most coffee cups are not actually made from pure cardboard – they have plastic polymers within their make-up, and are therefore not recyclable via any cardboard recycling scheme.’
This point was echoed by another reader who claimed that coffee cups cannot be recycled, referencing a BBC article from 2018.
In said BBC article it is worth noting that ‘industry body the Paper Cup Alliance says the specialist plants that do have the technology, already have the capacity to recycle all the cups we throw away – it’s the infrastructure to transport them there that’s currently lacking.’
Unisan UK, a waste management company, also suggest that the reader may be misinformed. They say on their website that ‘contrary to popular belief, coffee cups can be recycled.’
This point is echoed by Veolia UK, one of the leading waste management companies in the UK with over 300 plants. They say on their website ‘Veolia will utilise specialist pulping plants both in the UK and abroad which separate the fibres from the plastic lining for recycling.’
They can also ‘supply your business with specialist internal bins for customers or staff.’ The types of bins that were called for in my original article.
Since 2017, Veolia have recycled ‘over 100 million coffee cups saving 580 tonnes of CO2e’ and have created ‘855 tonnes of fibrous material for use in luxury paper products.’
It’s not just Unisan and Veolia offering services to recycle coffee cups that have plastic lining. James Cropper’s ‘CupCycling’ plant in Cumbria also can separate the fibres and plastic in coffee cups.
The National Cup Recycling Scheme, launched by Valpak and Costa, can also separate fibres from plastic lining. Since its launch in April 2018, the Scheme has helped to recycle over 155 million cups so far.
(Image: waferboard via Wikimedia Commons)
The Scheme, is now ‘co-funded by seven other major brands including McDonald’s, Caffe Nero, Pret A Manger, Greggs, Burger King, Pure and Lavazza Professional.’
Like the Paper Cup Alliance, The National Cup Recycling Scheme claim that ‘in the UK, we now have enough recycling facilities accepting paper cups to recycle every paper cup on the market (over 2.5 billion cups).’
They go on to say, ‘the problem is managing how we collect the paper cups.’
It therefore seems that paper cups (with or without plastic lining) can most certainly be recycled. The issue, therefore, does lie with how we dispose of coffee cups, as I suggested in my original article. I do, however, anticipate further debate from my edits.
On the topic of cardboard recycling on campus more generally, the Sustainability Office representative says that I do ‘make a fair point that cardboard recycling is not readily available.’
They went on to say that the University is ‘addressing this issue currently within a new waste tendering process that is underway.’
‘Waste services are provided via a public procurement process resulting in amendments to a contract being quite difficult – we have been waiting patiently for the end of this five-year contract!’
Final Year Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at The University of Exeter. Passionate about current affairs, politics and the global economy. Aspiring journalist.
Recycle this! Exeter’s coffee cup conundrum
Have you ever found yourself on campus clutching endlessly onto an empty coffee cup, hoping to eventually come across a cardboard recycling bin? I predict that you inevitably settled for a ‘non-recyclables’ bin or passed off the cup as a ‘tin can.’
Despite the passing moment of guilt you probably felt – rest assured that this was not your fault. One day, when I too was searching for a bin in which to chuck my empty cup of joe, it dawned on me. There actually are no cardboard bins.
So I decided to test my hypothesis. I counted all the bins on the bottom floor of the Amory building and here’s what I found. Of the twenty-eight bins on the ground floor of the Amory building, a grand total of zero were designated for cardboard waste. Whilst this is only a small sample set, I urge you to repeat this experiment in any building on campus and I can almost guarantee that you will get the same results.
You might think that ‘paper’ bins are just the same. However, they have been designed to specifically keep out coffee cups, by virtue of having only a small slit – which you can see in the image below.
Students can buy coffee from a vast array of outlets on campus, including a Pret a Manger, a Starbucks and lots of University operated suppliers. When buying coffee from any University operated outlet however, a 40 pence levy is applied to single use cups. This would indicate therefore that the University of Exeter does consider sustainability a priority. Why then, are there no cardboard recycling bins?
Ellie, an Exeter University student, also noticed the lack of cardboard bins on campus. She said, ‘I went to put a piece of cardboard in the recycling yesterday, and there is just no space for cardboard.’
When I asked Kitty, a third-year student, if she had noticed the lack of cardboard bins on campus, she responded, ‘definitely!’
Daniele, a faculty member, has a hypothesis for the lack of cardboard bins.
He said, ‘it could be because coffee cups are not cardboard once they come into contact with liquid. On the other hand, if there is no paper recycling at all, it is a problem.’
On further investigation, I have found Daniele’s claim to be true. Coffee cups are not supposed to be disposed of in mixed-recycling due to the cross contamination caused by the milk in coffee.
However, this does not mean that they cannot be recycled – they just require their own bin in order to be processed properly. Furthermore, the lack of cardboard bins in general, poses a problem which is not exclusive to coffee cups.
Domingo, a third-year student [pictured below], said that after a recent protest on the war in Gaza, cleaners were seen throwing away stacks of leaflets into general waste due to the lack of paper and cardboard bins in The Forum. It therefore seems that Exeter University cleaners, like students, have limited access to proper recycling infrastructure.
Large Bins Outside the Forum, Noticeably Missing Cardboard Recycling
He went on to say, ‘it’s quite indicative of the university’s green washing face. They don’t really care about the climate crisis or recycling properly.
‘They do what makes them look good and they easily overlook things that everyone else looks at.’
Other students however, such as Daisy, do believe that the university cares about sustainability. When asked whether she thought sustainability was a main consideration for the university, she said, ‘yeah. I think It’s up there.’
Oscar, a fourth year Geography student [pictured below], says that the issue doesn’t bother him too much but that the University should ‘put its money where its mouth is.’
He explained that the university advertises their sustainability aims around campus and on their website, so there ought to be more investment in this area.
He continued to say, ‘they could use the levy applied to single-use cups to pay for coffee cup recycling bins.’
I have reached out to the University Press Office for comment.
The following section was amended on 28/10/2024
A representative of the University’s Sustainability Office says that the decision to not have coffee cup recycling points is a conscious one.
In response to my article, they said that ‘if there were widespread coffee cup recycling bins around campus, it is likely that we would see increased uptake of these disposable cups in our food and drink outlets.’
I’m not entirely convinced by this position. While I agree that the uptake of reusable cups is positive, I fail to believe that the implementation of coffee cup recycling points would necessarily increase the number of people consuming coffee from disposable cups. It certainly wouldn’t be the case that those who have already invested in reusable cups will start using disposable ones again. Instead, coffee cup recycling bins would simply allow the thousands of disposable cups that are being used to be processed correctly.
Furthermore, while there is a sizeable minority of Exeter students who opt for reusable cups, the majority of coffee drinkers at the University of Exeter can still be seen clutching onto disposable brown paper cups.
Therefore, there needs to be more education and encouragement to get students to use reusable cups. The absence of coffee cup recycling points thus leading to mass uptake of reusable cups has not happened.
Part of the representative’s response has led me into a rabbit hole. They said, ‘most coffee cups are not actually made from pure cardboard – they have plastic polymers within their make-up, and are therefore not recyclable via any cardboard recycling scheme.’
This point was echoed by another reader who claimed that coffee cups cannot be recycled, referencing a BBC article from 2018.
In said BBC article it is worth noting that ‘industry body the Paper Cup Alliance says the specialist plants that do have the technology, already have the capacity to recycle all the cups we throw away – it’s the infrastructure to transport them there that’s currently lacking.’
Unisan UK, a waste management company, also suggest that the reader may be misinformed. They say on their website that ‘contrary to popular belief, coffee cups can be recycled.’
This point is echoed by Veolia UK, one of the leading waste management companies in the UK with over 300 plants. They say on their website ‘Veolia will utilise specialist pulping plants both in the UK and abroad which separate the fibres from the plastic lining for recycling.’
They can also ‘supply your business with specialist internal bins for customers or staff.’ The types of bins that were called for in my original article.
Since 2017, Veolia have recycled ‘over 100 million coffee cups saving 580 tonnes of CO2e’ and have created ‘855 tonnes of fibrous material for use in luxury paper products.’
It’s not just Unisan and Veolia offering services to recycle coffee cups that have plastic lining. James Cropper’s ‘CupCycling’ plant in Cumbria also can separate the fibres and plastic in coffee cups.
The National Cup Recycling Scheme, launched by Valpak and Costa, can also separate fibres from plastic lining. Since its launch in April 2018, the Scheme has helped to recycle over 155 million cups so far.
The Scheme, is now ‘co-funded by seven other major brands including McDonald’s, Caffe Nero, Pret A Manger, Greggs, Burger King, Pure and Lavazza Professional.’
Like the Paper Cup Alliance, The National Cup Recycling Scheme claim that ‘in the UK, we now have enough recycling facilities accepting paper cups to recycle every paper cup on the market (over 2.5 billion cups).’
They go on to say, ‘the problem is managing how we collect the paper cups.’
It therefore seems that paper cups (with or without plastic lining) can most certainly be recycled. The issue, therefore, does lie with how we dispose of coffee cups, as I suggested in my original article. I do, however, anticipate further debate from my edits.
On the topic of cardboard recycling on campus more generally, the Sustainability Office representative says that I do ‘make a fair point that cardboard recycling is not readily available.’
They went on to say that the University is ‘addressing this issue currently within a new waste tendering process that is underway.’
‘Waste services are provided via a public procurement process resulting in amendments to a contract being quite difficult – we have been waiting patiently for the end of this five-year contract!’
The Coffee Cup Conundrum Continues…
James Keegan
Final Year Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at The University of Exeter. Passionate about current affairs, politics and the global economy. Aspiring journalist.
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