Manifesto to increase the recovery and recycling of paper cups launched

The Manifesto has more than 30 signatories, representing each stage of the paper cup supply chain from raw material suppliers, cup manufacturers and retail high street brands to waste and recovery operators and paper re-processors. A list of initial signatories is provided below.

Grundon Waste Management has thrown its weight behind the Manifesto, along with corporate heavyweights such as John Lewis Partnership and Marks and Spencer and Nestlé.

Defra has recognised the Manifesto and views it as a welcome example of industry working together.

Mark Pawsey MP (pictured with Theresa May), Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Packaging, who has been closely involved in the development of the Manifesto and formally launched the initiative at the QEII conference centre in Westminster, said: “I’m encouraged to see industry working so closely together to find and implement solutions for recovering and recycling paper cups.”

The Manifesto is a voluntary commitment, funded by its members, to deliver systemic change that will increase the sustainable recovery and recycling rates of used paper cups. The Manifesto work programme will be run by an industry-wide executive board made up of elected members, with delegated reporting working groups. Signatory organisations are publicly recognising that working together is essential if long-lasting change is to be achieved.  

The Manifesto provides a public commitment from signatories to work collaboratively to increase access to information, schemes and facilities that enable used paper cups to be sustainably recovered and recycled.

Bradley Smith, Sales and Marketing Director at Grundon Waste Management and Executive Board Member of the PCRRG said: “The launch of the Manifesto is a positive step forward, and is a statement of intent from our industry-wide partners in the paper cup supply chain to escalate materials up through the waste hierarchy. We are committed to increasing recycling and recovery rates and diverting cups from landfill.

“At Grundon, we see waste paper cups as a valuable resource and have been committed to working with our customers, including Heathrow Airport Limited, to look at the most efficient and effective ways of segregating waste paper cups to maximise the recovery and recycling rates, with a focus on divert them from landfill.”

The following confirm their agreement to the Manifesto:

4 Aces Ltd, Baxter Storey, Benders Paper Cups, Bio Bean, British Plastics Association, British Retail Consortium, British Soft Drinks Association, Bunzl Catering Supplies, Caffe Nero, Clean Up Britain, (CLUB) Compass, Costa/Whitbread Group Plc, Confederation of Paper Industries, James Cropper, Dart Products Europe, DS Smith, First Mile, Foodservice Packaging Association, Greggs, Grundon Waste Management, Havi Global Solutions, Huhtamaki UK, Katka Mills, Keep Britain Tidy, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Kent Resource Partnership, LARAC, Marks and Spencer, Maxabel International, McDonald's Restaurants, Moto Hospitality, Nestlé, The Packaging Federation, The Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group, Pelican Rouge Coffee Solutions, Pret a Manger, Seda UK, South Cambridgeshire DC and Cambridge City Council, Starbucks Coffee Company, Stora Enso, University of Sheffield, Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre, Vegware, Veolia, Waitrose/John Lewis Partnership Yum! Brands/KFC