A new scheme is being introduced in Cardiff that will give avid coffee drinkers the chance to get money off their takeaway drinks as well as helping the environment. The Cardiff Refill Return Cup scheme will be launched in multiple coffee shops across the city next month.
In the UK, it is estimated that 2.5 billion (30,000 tonnes) takeaway coffee cups are used and disposed of each year, with 10,000 being used every two minutes. This is enough to stretch around the world five and a half times if placed end to end, and 99% of them are not being recycled. To help tackle this, FOR Cardiff, partnering with environmental charity City to Sea, are rolling out the scheme that will enable people in Cardiff to “borrow” a reusable coffee cup, return it, and get a discount at some of their favourite coffee spots.
The brand-new project is the first of its kind in Wales, starting in the capital city. The scheme will launch on Friday, October 4, with the first phase of the project lasting until March 2025. Highly rated coffee shops and cafes in Cardiff have signed up to be a part of the project, including Waterloo Tea in Wyndham Arcade, Pettigrew Bakeries (three locations across the city – Castle Arcade, Bute Park, and Roath), Da Coffee (two locations at Tramshed Tech and One Central Square), and Bird & Blend Tea. Each of the venues has also committed to offering users of the Cardiff Refill Return Cup scheme a minimum of 15p discount on their coffee order.
The Cardiff Refill Return Cup scheme works as follows: cafes and coffee shops across the city will sign up to the scheme and will be provided with the reusable cups. The customer will download the Refill app and register their card details in preparation for using one of the Cardiff Refill Return Cups (no charges will be taken). When a customer comes in for a coffee, the barista will use the app to scan a QR code on one of the Cardiff Refill Return Cups, and the customer becomes the temporary owner of the cup.
The customer will be reminded when and where to return the cup by the Refill app; provided the cup is returned within two weeks, there is no charge for using the scheme. Once the customer returns the cup, the participating retailer will scan it back in, wash it, and put it back into circulation to be re-used by another customer – again and again and again. FOR Cardiff is bringing this scheme to life with the help of £90,000 funding from the UK government through the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Carolyn Brownell, executive director at FOR Cardiff, said: “Our 2021-26 FOR Cardiff business plan clearly sets out our ambition to support businesses and work with local stakeholders to improve sustainability of our city centre, so we were thrilled to secure the funding we need to bring this exciting pilot to life. We’re positive that Cardiffians will get behind the scheme and help us to prevent up to 30,000 single-use cups from ever being used.”