MPs call for 25p 'latte levy' on coffee cups: Committee says charge could raise £438m and reduce use of the throwaway mugs by 30%

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Throwaway coffee cups should face a 25p 'latte levy', MPs said last night.

A cross-party committee called for urgent action to curb the mountain of up to five billion disposable coffee cups dumped each year, almost none of which are recycled.

Experts estimated the levy could raise £438million and lead to a 30 per cent reduction in the number of cups as more people carry their own.

The Commons environmental audit committee said the industry should be given five years to make the cups easy to recycle or face an outright ban.

Government sources said ministers were 'open' to the idea of a coffee cup charge if evidence shows it would change behaviour. 

A cross-party committee called for urgent action to curb the mountain of up to five billion disposable coffee cups dumped each year in the UK, almost none of which are recycled

A Government review is due to report at the end of this month. Last night Starbucks became the first firm to break ranks, saying it would pilot a 5p charge in selected stores from next month.

The Daily Mail has led calls to 'curb the cups' and crack down on plastic, campaigning to protect the environment with measures such as a deposit scheme for plastic bottles and the 5p levy on disposable plastic carrier bags.

The report accused coffee shops of 'pulling the wool over the eyes' of consumers by suggesting all cups get recycled when fewer than 1 per cent do.

It warned that voluntary approaches to combating the issue have failed, and government action is needed to deal with the 'avoidable problem'. 

The tax would fund plants capable of recycling the cups, persuade people to carry reusable cups and encourage the use of traditional ceramic mugs in workplaces, the report said.

Last night chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – whose BBC show Hugh's War on Waste first drew attention to the paper cup problem – said the report showed 'the UK has finally woken up and smelled the coffee cup nightmare'.

Numbers of the throwaway cups have hugely increased in recent years. 

While looking like paper, they have a polypropylene plastic lining. In theory, both the paper and the lining are recyclable. 

But in practice, no conventional paper plant wants them because the lining clogs their mills.

Just three specialist mills in the UK are equipped to deal with them. 

The vast majority end up in landfill or incineration, with 500,000 a day dropped as litter.

The committee's report states: 'There is no excuse for the reluctance we have seen from Government and industry to address coffee cup waste. 

'We recommend the Government sets a target that all single use coffee cups should be recycled by 2023. If this target is not achieved, the Government should ban disposable coffee cups.'

It said that moves to offer a discount for those who bring in their own cup had yielded very poor results, adding: 'We therefore recommend that the Government introduces a minimum 25p levy on disposable cups. 

'The revenue should be used to invest in reprocessing facilities and 'binfrastructure' to ensure that the remaining disposable cups are recycled.'

It also pointed out that currently cup producers only contribute around 10 per cent of the cost of disposing of the coffee cups 'leaving the taxpayer to foot the rest'.

But industry body The Paper Cup Alliance rejected the report's recommendations. Spokesman Mike Turner said: 'The paper cups we manufacture in the UK are sustainably sourced, responsibly produced, recyclable and ... are being recycled. We are committed to increasing recycling rates.

'Taxing the morning coffee run will not address the issue of litter but it will hurt consumers and impact already struggling high streets.'

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: 'We are already taking action towards our goal of a 'zero waste economy' ... We will carefully consider the committee's recommendations and respond shortly.' 

How Chains mislead us on recycling

By Environment Correspondent

Coffee chains have been 'pulling the wool over the eyes' of customers by letting them believe paper cups can be recycled, MPs warned.

They said the disposable cups that most of them used actually had a 'shockingly low recycling rate' – less than 1 per cent.

Many of the cups are printed with the three-arrow triangular 'Mobius loop' symbol that eight out of ten people think means they can be put in the recycling.

However, because of their plastic lining, customers who put them in the recyclable waste effectively contaminate it.

Gavin Ellis of environmental charity Hubbub said: 'Most consumers would look at that [symbol] and think if they put that in their mixed recycling bin that it will get recycled. That is likely to not be the case.'

The environmental audit committee's report said: 'Coffee shops with recycling schemes should place a 'recyclable in stores only' label on cups. Those without in-store recycling should print cups with a 'not widely recycled' label.'

Experts estimated a 25p levy could raise £438million and lead to a 30 per cent reduction in the number of cups as more people carry their own. Last night Starbucks became the first firm to break ranks, saying it would pilot a 5p charge in selected stores from next month