Comment From PCRRG Regarding The Withdrawal Of Paper Cups By Waitrose

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 10 April 2018

Comment From PCRRG Regarding The Withdrawal Of Paper Cups By Waitrose

Comments attributable to a PCRRG spokesperson

“The Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group (PCRRG) remains confident of the progress that has been made in recycling paper cups despite Waitrose taking the decision to withdraw paper cups for its customer in-store and on-the-go free tea and coffee service.

“Paper cups can and are being recycled in the UK and with the addition of the DS Smith paper mill capability announced in March, coupled with the ACE UK facility that went live in January and existing facilities such as James Cropper, Kendal, capacity now exists to recycle all the UK’s used paper cups” said the spokesperson.

She adds: “Paper cups are the most food safe and sustainable solution for tea and coffee on-the-go and have a positive role to play in the UK economy; it is important that people realise their benefits and any individual decision is not misinterpreted. Paper cups are made from sustainable certified forestry sources and account for just 0.27% of UK paperboard production and 0.7% of the UK’s total packaging waste.

“The industry is continuing to work hard across the supply chain to increase the number of collection and recovery points for consumers and to increase the number of waste collection partners who recover used paper cups and direct them to one of the many reprocessing plants in the UK. This circular economy model benefits both the consumer and industry as a whole.

“The decision by Waitrose is purely an internal one. They are a member of the PCRRG and are fully aware of the progress the industry is making to reach its target of having the majority of UK used paper cups recycled by 2020. There have been many great displays of leadership in recycling by other retailers recently implementing schemes to recycle paper cups into items that could be used elsewhere in their stores.”

Ends 10 April 2018

Note to editors:

The Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group (PCRRG) is a voluntary body dedicated to increasing the recovery and recycling of paper cups. It has more than 40 members from across the supply chain including paper board manufacturers, paper cup manufacturers, distributors, coffee retail brands, waste, recycling and reprocessing companies, local authorities and NGO bodies including litter organisations.

Issued on behalf of the PCRRG by Leapfrog PR. Editorial contacts are Felicity Read on 01242 282000 07887 608353 felicity@Leapfrogpr.com or: Lucy Boreham on +447825 416 584 or lucy.boreham@anthesisgroup.com