Shrewsbury university bans single-use takeaway cups
A Shropshire university has made the decision to ban single-use takeaway cups from its campus in a bid to reduce waste.
Stop. Cafe at University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) now only serves drinks to staff, students and visitors in reusable cups.
It is part of the Shrewsbury Cup scheme which was launched in the town last year and sees customers pay a £1 deposit for a reusable cup, enjoy their drink and return it to any participating cafe to get their deposit back
Paul Kirkbright, deputy provost of UCS, said: "Moving to the reusable cups was a no-brainer really. It allows the university to act on our values of preserving and protecting the environment.
"Once they realised that they can get their £1 deposit back at any time, the students were completely on board. The roll-out was effortless."
The move sees Shrewsbury become one of only two universities in the country to completely abandon single-use takeaway cups.
Owner of the University cafe, Nicola Dalton said: “We are thrilled to be involved with the marvellous Shrewsbury Cup scheme and were proud to be the first cafe in town to switch to reusable cups only.
"Since we introduced the policy, students have warmly embraced the changes and the campus is now really all about reusing for the benefit of the environment.”
The Shrewsbury Cup scheme was launched after it was revealed approximately 250,000 single-use paper cups are used in Shrewsbury each year.
As there is no facility to recycle them, they are destined for the incinerator.
Alison Thomas, co-founder of Shrewsbury Cup, added: "It’s really gratifying to see Shrewsbury Cup take off so well at the town’s university.
"Places like the university are an ideal environment for the scheme to work.
"In the future we hope to see many more Shrewsbury venues fully embrace the choose to reuse concept."
