As the Irish Government proposes a 15 cent levy on disposable coffee cups today, Coffeeangel has teamed up and Friends of the Earth to help tackle waste from coffee shops. With two million disposable coffee cups a day in Ireland going into landfills, waste from city centre and suburban cafés sector has now reached worrying proportions.
Many solutions have been proposed by the industry, including switching to compostable cups. However, disposable cups require commercial composting to biodegrade and most end up in general landfill anyway. Coffeeangel believes in the wider use of reusable cups.
Coffeeangel will now donate 20 cent for every KeepCup used by their customers to Friends of the Earth to help support local environmental initiatives. Company director Caroline Sleiman said they considered giving 20 cent off each purchase, but they felt the personal cup and Friends of the Earth donation serves two purposes.
Bord Bia says three out of four Irish consumers say they drink coffee and seven in 10 drink more than one cup a day. Sales of fresh coffee are driving growth, with instant coffee sales on the decline. Coffee trade value sales of €176 million are predicted for 2020. Mintel reports that coffee preferences are more common among 16 to 34-year-olds.
Older consumers tend to settle for more traditional coffees like an Americano.
