Brewing-up for smaller brands – National Cup Recycling Scheme expansion

Reconomy brand Valpak– the administrator of the UK’s largest paper cup recycling scheme – has expanded its national service to help coffee shops meet the demands of upcoming legislation. 

The National Cup Recycling Scheme was set up to kick-start paper cup recycling. It brought together major retailers, waste management companies and UK paper mills and, in response to next year’s change in the law, the scheme is expanding to include smaller brands and cafés.

From October 2025, any business with more than 10 employees which provides paper cups* to staff or customers will need to report twice a year on the volume of cups sold. They will also be required to host a take-back scheme for customers and report on the number of cups being sent for recycling.

Hannah Osman, National Cup Recycling Manager at Valpak, said: “The UK already has the capacity to recycle all of the cups generated across the country’s 25,000** cafés and coffee shops, so this legislation will have a far-reaching impact. As with any new regulation, it may be confusing at first but the National Cup Recycling Scheme’s work with major brands such as Costa and McDonald’s means we already have a successful network in place. Combined with Valpak’s experience in compliance, we have all the tools to support businesses through the transition.”

Valpak’s service is open to any site providing filled cups to staff or members of the public. As well as managing the compliance aspects, the scheme incorporates a straightforward collection system. Valpak provides outlets with a collection box able to hold 400-700 cups; once filled, businesses arrange for a collection.

Each collection is weighed and logged. The cups are then delivered to paper mills around the country, where they are recycled into packaging for luxury brands. Since 2018, 185 million cups have already been recycled through the scheme.

Hannah Osman said: “Paper cups are easily recycled; we just have to keep the cups separate from other waste streams. At Valpak, we think it is important to bring customers on the journey, so we provide stats to show what businesses have achieved. This type of robust data will also be important when compliance reporting begins.”

In Scotland, Valpak will be working with environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful to roll out and pilot the cup boxes in the Scottish Highlands.

Paul Wallace, Campaigns and Social Innovation Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said:

"Having worked with Valpak and the National Cup Recycling Scheme since 2018, through our flagship Cup Movement Programme, we welcome the cup box as an exciting initiative to help mainstream cup recycling by making it more widely available to retailers and communities.

“We are looking forward to working in collaboration with community groups to pilot the boxes in coming months in the remote, rural setting of Scottish Highlands, as part of our work through the Highland Community Waste Partnership.

“Nearly 80 per cent of Scotland’s carbon footprint comes from the things that we make, use, and often throw away after one use. 200 million single-use cups are used in Scotland each year. By increasing the proportion of these that are recycled, we are not only reducing the impact of litter on our communities, but also working to transition towards a more circular economy.”

To find out more about the National Cup Recycling Scheme, visit: https://www.cuprecyclingscheme.co.uk

*Filled fibre-composite paper cups

** https://www.statista.com/statistics/978010/coffee-shop-numbers-united-kingdom-uk/

Ends

Editors notes

The National Cup Recycling Scheme is the UK’s largest paper cup recycling scheme. The Scheme brings together major retailers, waste management companies and UK paper mills all with the shared aim of growing the infrastructure needed to increase the number of paper cups being collected and recycled in the UK.

Valpak’s mission is to create a sustainable, waste-free world. We are driven, not by today. We are driven by tomorrow.

We help our clients to reduce waste and recycle more, continually innovating and using leading data science and expertise to inspire businesses, help push ourselves – and our industry – forward. We don’t just show our customers how to navigate waste regulations; we help them become more sustainable, through our ever-increasing capabilities and pioneering innovations.

Valpak is the largest environmental compliance scheme in the UK. We work with major names, such as Aldi, Tesco, ASOS, and Miele, and manages compliance for more than 2,000 businesses. In 2017, it celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Valpak is a Reconomy Group company. Reconomy Group is an innovative, tech-led provider of services to enable the circular economy, with the purpose of creating a truly sustainable world by conserving finite resources. Enabling businesses around the world to improve their ESG outcomes, the Reconomy Group delivers value through its unique set of integrated capabilities - Recycle, Comply and Re-use.​

Reconomy Group serves businesses of all sizes in the following sectors: retail, hospitality, leisure, manufacturing, facilities management, transport and logistics, construction, house building and infrastructure.

Valpak services include:

o   Compliance under Waste Packaging, WEEE, and Battery Directives.

o   Data insights.

o   International compliance.

o   Recycling services (total waste management options and solutions for niche materials).

o   Consultancy.

o   Accreditation under environmental schemes, such as Zero Waste to Landfill. 

Valpak invests in pioneering systems and expertise which enable its customers to analyse, assess and improve product design. The Product Data Hub, Insight Platform and dedicated teams work together to drive change.