Following a number of enquiries from both the trade and its clients, Save a Cup diversified its collection and recycling scheme in 2007 to include both paper and polypropylene disposable cups. For the diverse scheme to operate successfully, segregation of the different types of cups at source is paramount, says the company, with a colour coded system set up to make separating waste easier for businesses.

The environment is a growing concern and businesses must be seen to be doing their bit. Save a Cup points out that not only is waste disposal expensive and problematic, the scheme also helps to enhance your green credentials and could help you retain ISO-14001 accreditation.

Talking to Vending International in July last year, Chairman and Acting Managing Director David Hoskin explained the challenges faced: “There is no doubt we were well ahead of the game when we started and at the time a lot of companies felt they were doing us a favour by using our service. However, attitudes have changed as the recycling issue has taken centre stage in recent years. We still need more support from companies if we are to operate even more successfully. The difficulty we face with the consumer recycling is they have to be motivated to separate the rubbish themselves. It’s either that or we do it for them and that costs more to facilitate, which in turn makes them more reluctant to recycle. As an industry we are under a lot of pressure to recycle but getting the support isn’t easy. A lot more could be done with the waste too – the government could link up with us to turn polystyrene cups into rulers for schools etc. If we had clean burn furnaces, we could even turn some of the waste into renewable energy,” he said.

The Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group meanwhile, were formed with the objective of identifying an ongoing sustainable route or routes for the recovery and subsequent recycling of paper cups and similar products. Working with The Fibre Technology Association, Save a Cup and other major companies involved in the supply chain, the group is committed to investigating the options to recover and recycle paper cups in line with current government guidelines, including the Waste Hierarchy and to provide an alternative to land filling.

Technology designed for recycling on the go

On the Go Recycling says: “The ever increasing trend of snacking on the go means that ‘out of home’ recycling looks set to remain a hot topic this year. To help meet this demand, ‘on the go’ recycling facilities have become a fixture in a number of shopping centres, schools and leisure centres.”

The Reverse Vending Corporation is a leading UK distributor and operator of Reverse Vending machines that utilise advanced technology to identify, sort, collect and process used beverage containers.

Used in Europe for over three decades, they are used in markets that have deposits on beverage containers, offering a highly efficient method of identifying the deposit amount of each container returned and providing a refund to the customer, says the company. This normally comes in the shape of a voucher, automatically dispensed by the RVMs to be redeemed in store at a supermarket, or used towards the purchase a related incentive product. The RVMs are accessible remotely, allowing updates, voucher details, bar code data bases etc to be updated via the internet from anywhere in the world.

The great thing about these types of machines is that over time they capture a lot of interesting data, including which brands are being recycled and how often. The opportunities here for loyalty marketing and for monitoring the extent, to which brands are effective in spreading the recycling message, are endless. The setting in which the machine is located, is in a perfect position to look at joined up marketing efforts that offer good incentives to recycle, maintaining customer loyalty and perhaps winning a few new ones in the process.

According to the Reverse Vending Corporation, there are now nearly 19,000 reVend Reverse Vending Recycling Machines installed in the UK.

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