Ban single use drinks cups to help environment and reduce waste Scottish Government urged

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Scottish Government has been urged to set an example by banning the use of single-use drinks cups.An estimated 500 million of the containers - typically used for tea or coffee - are thrown away in Scotland each year.

Scottish Green minister Lorna Slater last month launched a consultation which could eventually see shops forced to charge customers for each single use cup - similar to the 10 pence levy on plastic bags - in a bid to reduce the number used.

But some in the drinks industry are now calling on Holyrood to go even further and ban their use altogether.Lisa Lawson, founder of the Glasgow-based coffee roasters Dear Green, insists customers should be encouraged to make a "very simple shift" towards reusable cups.The forthcoming Glasgow Coffee Festival on May 7 and 8 will not use any single-use cups.Lawson said: "I hope within this decade, single-use cups can be a thing of the past."This slipped down people’s priority list during the pandemic - but now is the time to put it back on the top of the agenda."At the start of the pandemic cafes were right to take every single precaution with covid and stop accepting reusable cups."However, while the science has shown that reusables can be used safely and most cafes are again welcoming their use, customer behaviour has shifted as far fewer people are using reusables than before the pandemic began“As an industry we have to do our bit to turn this back around and once again encourage people to make a very simple shift."She added: "I thought COP 26 would make that change but it hasn’t."Compostable and recyclable isn’t the answer- reusable is the only solution.