Bettystown takes coffee break from single use cups

An initiative where Businesses in Bettystown have signed up to become completely free of single use coffee cups in a bid to make the town one of the first in Ireland to move to reusable coffee cups has come into play.

It is estimated that the project will remove around 200,000 single use coffee cups from the town annually.

Recognising the negative impacts this waste was having on the local environment, Bettystown Tidy Towns approached local coffee shops who collectively agreed that action was required.

It is hoped that this new measure will have a visible impact on litter in the town and its surrounding environment.

The participating cafés in Bettystown are, BT Bistro, Burrows café, Ellies Ice Cream, McDonough's Coffee House, Navy and Reddans B&B.

The coffee shops have also agreed to introduce a collective deposit system by partnering with 2GoCup. The partnership enables customers to purchase a reusable cup for a €2 deposit which is refundable when the cup is returned at any of the participating locations in Bettystown.

The decision coincides with the introduction of the ‘Latte Levy’, an impending 20c tax on single use coffee cups. The introduction of a reusable model ensures that the price of takeaway coffee will remain the same in the town for consumers.

The new initiative will be “a game changer” for businesses, customers and the environment according to Liam Keane, chairperson for Bettystown Tidy Towns.

“The scheme offers people an alternative to single use takeout cups by offering a returnable and reusable cup," says Liam.

"Six cafés in Bettystown have recognised the need to be more environmentally friendly and have signed up to offer the reusable takeout cup,” he added.

"Customers ordering a takeout coffee from participating cafés are offered a reusable takeout cup and pay a deposit of €2 for the cup. The customer can keep the reusable cup or return it to any of the six participating cafés to get their deposit back.

"Customers do not have to return to the café where they paid the deposit. This makes it very convenient and user friendly for people having a takeout drink while out for a walk around the village."

The initiative has been sponsored by, Dole Ireland Ltd., Drogheda Credit Union Ltd and Meath County Council.

“Every day over five hundred and fifty single use cups are used in Bettystown village. This is over two hundred thousand cups a year, which equates to over twelve thousand kgs of CO2 per annum," said the Bettystown Chairperson.

“Some businesses will be saving between Є€6-€15k per year on buying cups," he added.

“We saw how Killarney did it two years ago, the whole town got on board so if Killarney can do it, we can do it here in Bettystown."

Valerie Sherlock of Navy cafe in Bettystown said: “It is great to see local businesses being environmentally responsible and taking an active part in climate action.”

Fergus O’Connor of McDonaghs Coffee House, Bettystown said he believes people will catch on to the idea quickly.

“It is just like paying a deposit for a shopping trolley, you pay €2 and get your deposit back when you return it. The cups are in use in hundreds of cafés in Ireland and the cups can be returned in any participating café in Ireland.”

Liam says the idea of a coffee cup being recyclable is all but a myth in some cases.

“A lot of people will say that they are recyclable but a lot of them are not because the outer lining might be recyclable, but the whole cup is not recyclable.

“Some of them are advertised as decomposable, but only if you have commercial composting and there is none in Ireland that we are aware of. If you put it in the bin, it ain't going to a composting site. If you put it in the bin like a good citizen, it will go to landfill.

“It will be phased in and the coffee shops will use up their single use cup stock so there will be a small amount there for customers initially who want to avail of them but the aim is to have a fully reusable system within a few months.”