Manchester leads the way in coffee cup recycling

Every day up to 7 million coffee cups are thrown away across the UK, with less than 1% of them recycled

Almost 30,000 of them were collected in bright yellow coffee cup shaped bins on Oxford Road between October last year and February 2017.

Now they’ve been recycled and made into plant pot holders, bird feeders and chalkboards for the community to enjoy.

They were unveiled at a community picnic in Centenary Gardens, Old Trafford on Saturday – part of the #1MoreShot initiative led by environmental charity Hubbub, the first in the country to take on the issue of coffee cup recycling.

“It was wonderful to see how the people of Manchester embraced the idea of recycling their coffee cups last year and it’s a real pleasure to donate the end results back to the city’s green spaces,” said Hubbub co-founder Gavin Ellis.

“What started as a small trial in Manchester has now resulted in almost 1.5 million cups being recycled since April this year in London and we’re set to expand to other cities across the UK and overseas.

“And coffee cup recycling lives on in Manchester with our recycling partner Simply Cups recently announcing plans for expansion in the city.”

“We were delighted to partner with Hubbub to get Manchester recycling coffee cups, and Centenary Gardens is the perfect setting to put these recycled plant pot holders and bird feeders into use,” said Rebecca Knowles of project partner Groundwork.

“We’ve been working with the local community groups to restore this award-winning site back to its former glory. The restored space is a beautiful recreational area for the local school and community which incorporates locally sourced environmentally sustainable materials.”

As well as the new recycled products, the area has benefited from the greening of the alleyways and an inspirational new mural by Mural Life on nearby Prestage Street.

PS A lot of the cups used in high street coffee chains aren’t recyclable. One particular Manchester food and coffee vendor has always taken recycling seriously – keeping it green and clean. Pita Pit prides itself on recyclable and bio-degradable packaging including coffee cups and porridge cartons and provides clearly labelled bins throughout their venues on- Deansgate and Piccadilly.