Pret a Manger is doubling your cash if you recycle your coffee cups

Sandwich shop chain, Pret a Manger, is increasing its discount to 50p if customers bring in a reusable cup for their hot drinks.

This will take effect in January 2018. The company currently offers 25p off a customer’s coffee if they bring in a reusable cup that is serviceable, and has done so since August 2017.

In the UK, it has been reported that around 2.5bn coffee cups are thrown away every year. Despite people thinking of them as ‘recyclable’, only a small fraction is sustainable.

Pret’s chief executive, Clive Schlee, said: “We debated whether charging people for using paper cups felt right. We decided that it goes against our instincts as we would prefer to be generous to our customers than to tax them. Let’s see what impact the new discount has.”

The business has said a “well-designed reusable cup, to launch in 2018” is in the making, too. Pret is to look at making china cups more available in stores which have seating options.

This follows the UK’s environmental audit committee’s consideration earlier this season on how to increase the amount of disposable cups recycled in the country.

Other chains such as Costa, McDonald’s and Starbucks have signed up to a scheme to collect and recycle current cups readily available.