Consultation to tackle throwaway culture
People across Scotland are being asked to have their say on a minimum charge for single-use cups to promote responsible consumption and cut waste.
The Scottish Government is consulting on the possible introduction of a 25p charge to all single-use drinks cups when a drink is bought, regardless of material. Exemptions would apply for specific locations and uses, such as in schools. Free drinks in hospital or care settings would not be included in the scope of the charge.
There are already similar charging schemes for cups established in Europe – with the Netherlands introducing a guideline charge of 25 cents on plastic, single-use cups in 2023. Legislation allowing the introduction of environmental levies on single- disposable cups in the Republic of Ireland was also passed in 2022 – although it has yet to come into force.
Under consultation proposals, retailers would be able to retain reasonable implementation costs from the charge – mirroring the approach taken for single-use carrier bags. It also seeks views whether the net proceeds from a charge should be kept by businesses and used for good causes or collected by local or national government.
An estimated 388 million single-use cups were used in Scotland in 2021-22 creating 5,400 tonnes of waste.
The use of single-use plastic carrier bags fell by 80% in the first year in Scotland, following the introduction of a 5p charge in 2014. The charge is widely believed to be a success with the Marine Conservation society annual litter survey reporting an 80% drop in plastic bags found on UK beaches since its implementation.
Acting Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin said: “The success of the single-use carrier bag charge shows how an environmental charge can be an effective tool to change people’s behaviour and encourage responsible consumption.
“While many businesses already have offers in place to encourage the use of reusable drinks cups, hundreds of millions of single-use cups are still being discarded, creating 5,400 tonnes of waste every year. Many of these cups end up littering our roadsides, town centres, beaches and parks.
“Introducing a national charge could provide consistency for consumers, provide a level playing field for retail and businesses and help to drive forward sustainable behaviours. Our proposed approach is similar to the charge for single-use carrier bags and will be familiar to both suppliers and the public. We hope this means that it will minimise any administrative burden on businesses and make it easy for individuals and organisations to adopt.
“I urge everyone to have their say so we ,can choose the most sustainable option for both people and businesses while helping to tackle litter, reduce waste and cut emissions.”
Calum Duncan, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “Our volunteers have consistently recorded single-use disposable cups on over half of UK beaches surveyed. We need to see charges on these kinds of items to reduce litter in our seas and prevent it from damaging our precious marine life.
“We know that policies like this work, with our data recently showing an 80% reduction in the average number of plastic carrier bags washing up on beaches since charges on them were introduced.
“We look forward to a similar decline in disposable cups once a charge is introduced, and need further measures from governments to move towards a society where refillable and reusable options are the norm.
The consultation runs until 14 November.
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I live in Portobello. Apart from bicycles going too fast and causing issues and danger for disabled x elderly people (no1 annoyance-)The second most annoying thing in Portobello is that there is always a huge amount of rubbish strewn all over the place .Then some who do put cups in bins-put them in the food bin -even when asked not to!!!I often com out of a morning a find them everywhere ,especially after a busy weekend Most of the summer in !! Soon there will be an added nightmare The boathouse will open .It was dreadful when open previously .There are many disabled people x elderly people just behind the ‘pub’ Its a nightmare we don’t want. They had karoke previously and it was dreadful .When we finally found out who to complain to -it close from lack of sleep It is worse because of my disability. after years of noise It made me extremely ill.On top of this I have had very young drunken girls banging on the door looking for taxi numbers -not just once either!! In short all of the above are without consideration of people who live here and cannot move for various reasons . But we are not considered and treated as a nuisance when we complain re cups,noise or bicycles ‘flying’ along pathways -a bad accident waiting to happen .It nearly has for me many times!!