We're committed to championing circular cups and packaging solutions.
The packaging we serve our products in is important to us, to you and for the planet. We are committed to prioritising the sustainability of our packaging, innovating with new materials and designing for recyclability and circularity.
Our takeaway cup is made from 100% plant-based, renewable materials.
We’ll make all our primary packaging reusable or recyclable.
Our single-use product packaging for Costa items will contain an average of at least 50% recycled content.
Today, coffee cups are not accepted with household recyclables in the UK, they must be collected separately to be sorted and recycled at one of four paper recycling facilities within the UK.
As the UK’s largest coffee shop brand, we wanted to do something to make recycling coffee cups easier. So in 2016, we became the first coffee chain to introduce recycling points in all our stores. We encourage our customers to recycle any paper takeaway cup via one of our 2,700+ stores up and down the country. And we’re not precious about the brand of disposable cup you bring to us either. Even if it’s not a Costa Coffee branded cup, we’ll take care of it and ensure its recycled.
Not satisfied with stopping there, just two years later we partnered with Valpak (an independent waste management service company) to launch the UK’s National Cup Recycling Scheme. Through this scheme, we pay waste collectors an incentive for every tonne of cups they collect, which helps to fund the right infrastructure and processes for cups to be recovered for recycling.So far, the scheme has helped to recycle over 190 million cups and has resulted in more places like offices, shopping centres, universities, transport hubs and local councils provide cup recycling facilities. We are also thrilled that the scheme is now supported by more of the UK’s leading coffee brands, as we know that collaborating is the best way to increase recycling rates.
We are determined to recycle as many cups as possible, and we will continue to roll out dedicated cup recycling points to all our stores across 2024.
As part of an ongoing effort to reduce the environmental impact of our iconic takeaway cups, in November 2021 we changed the inside lining to plant-based plastic.
We also replaced our plastic straws with a paper-based alternative and in Autumn 2023 launched our new recyclable fibre lid for our hot takeaway drinks in stores in Wales and Belgium. Available across small, medium and large drinks sizes, the lids are made from renewable plant-based material and are plastic free. They can be recycled together with the cups in any of our stores.
Our Costa Club members get their free drink faster with a reusable cup. When you use a reusable cup, we'll give you an extra bean - for free! This means, you only need to buy 5 drinks to get your free one on us.* And the best bit? You can use any reusable cup you like (we're not fussy).**
In 2022 we ran a trial of our very own returnable cup scheme called ‘BURT’: standing for ‘Borrow, Use, Reuse, Take back’. It was our first trial of an integrated on-the-go returnable cup scheme and ran across 14 stores in Glasgow.
Customers could borrow a returnable cup, use it, reuse it, and take it back to a store for it to be washed before being used again. Not only did this help customers who may have left their own cup at home or didn’t want to carry a reusable cup around all day, it also helped us learn more about how a scheme can work for our customers and baristas in our stores.
Next, we're taking a closer look at how we can build upon and improve this experience, helping us on our journey to deliver an effective returnable cup scheme at scale. Watch this space.
Discover the steps we're taking to hit our climate targets to ensure we reach Net Zero by 2040 and help protect the planet.
*Terms and conditions apply.
**See here for full information on using a reusable cup in our stores.
