Sorry, millennials: A latte tax might be coming to make takeaway coffee cups more expensive
They may take our lattes, but they will never take our freedom.
UK politicians want the government to introduce a 25p (33 cents) "latte levy" on disposable coffee cups in an effort to eliminate waste. MPs say if cup recycling doesn't improve drastically by 2023, they'll be banned completely.
The latte levy was proposed in a new report authored by the Environmental Audit Committee, which revealed that many coffee consumers "mistakenly think that disposable cups are widely recycled."
The report says disposable coffee cups are "made from paper and lined with plastic" which renders them waterproof. But, the problem is: the plastic lining "can't be removed by most recycling facilities."
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Even when consumers place coffee cups in recycling bins, there's currently no way for recycling plants to recycle them.
"The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year; enough to circle the planet five and a half times," said Mary Creagh MP, chair of the committee, in a statement.
"Almost none are recycled and half a million a day are littered," added Creagh. "Coffee cup producers and distributors have not taken action to rectify this and Government has sat on its hands."
Per the report, the latte levy on takeaway coffee cups "would remove some of the financial burden from local authorities and council taxpayers."
Mary Creagh MP, chair of the committee, says the UK's coffee shop industry is "expanding rapidly," so it's necessary to take action now to kickstart a "revolution" in cup recycling.
The report sheds light on the UK's growing love affair with coffee, and the resultant impact on coffee cup use. According to the report, "almost half of all coffees and hot drinks" are sold in disposable cups. And, the number of coffee shops has increased four-fold since 2000.
Many coffee lovers are not in favour of the 25p tax, and instead feel that packaging changes would be more conducive.
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Time to crack out your reusable cups?
Topics Sustainability
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
