Gone were the wall-to-wall performance figures of past presentations, and in came a more direct approach - ‘Where have we come from?', ‘Where we now?' and ‘Where are we going to?'

The headlines are that, through hard work, support and diversification into paper cups and (now) cans, Save a Cup is now very close to, using Chairman David Hoskins' oft-used expression, ‘buying its own lunch'. However, the board has taken the (brave?) step of voting to head towards a deficit of some £106,000 in the 2009 financial year by reducing the previously sometimes-criticised, but nonetheless life-saving, Environmental Charge by 20 per cent.

There's also a new incentive plan for vending operators under discussion to encourage them to introduce new sites to Save a Cup. It is envisaged that, having introduced a new client to the scheme, an operator would receive a payment following the first collection.

David Hoskins opened the event by reviewing the past stages of Save A Cup development, reminding the considerable audience of the fact that the organisation was set up by the vending industry itself, long before any rumblings from Brussels and, as such led Europe in successful cup recycling.

He gave credit to the early funding of the not-for-profit company by cup manufacturers and pointed out that, even as recently as in the '90s, Save a Cup generated no income.

In contrast, the balance sheet for 2008, he reported, stood at total funding of £223,308 - following a concerted effort over a three-year period involving, among other things, a management restructure and increasing the Environmental Charge.

Andy Porter, Chairman of the AVA, then took over, with a concise presentation on where Save a Cup stands today. Operators, he explained, created a demand from Save a Cup for more than polystyrene cup collection. As a result, collections of paper cups, pods, sachets and cans have been evaluated, and now taken on board.

This started a process of developing a new operating model, working towards the situation in which the end-customer is eventually responsible for funding collections. Three ways have been developed - sack sales (an important and increasing source of revenue to Save a Cup), an administration charge and a site charge for every collection.

The sack price was increased to 65p in 2008, and this is scheduled to grow to 75p next year; the administration charge of £50 per year has so far had an important margin effect of £105,172; and collection charges, while having been slower to grow, are showing a ‘new' income of over £26,000.

This good news was somewhat dampened by the information that falling plastic cup volumes have resulted in income from the Environmental Charge declining from over £500,000 in 2004 to £348,226 last year. Hence the interesting comparison that the percentage of ‘new' income versus total income has rocketed from 39 per cent in 2004 to 67 per cent in 2008.

Roger Williams, long-established, successful vending operator, and ex board member of both the AVA and EVA has traditionally rounded off these Save a Cup occasions with thought-provoking looks at the future. This year was no exception, as he looked at the growing recycling requirements being placed on all business by European and national governments. "Indeed", he said, "Europe requires us to recycle 50 per cent of our waste by 2020 - the current figure is 34 per cent. He reflected on how Save a Cup has moved from polystyrene cups into polypropylene, paper, pads and sachets and now cans. Actually, he said "and finally, cans", but you can never be sure with Save a Cup!

Paper and can collections are showing significant growth, he said, with volume already three-times the 2008 figures, and several major new clients in the wings. The can recycling industry is launching a joint promotional campaign that is expected to drive growth still faster.

Roger went on to talk about the revolutionary operator site recycling scheme, in which Save a Cup is considering paying operators for sites.

A combination of the new aspirations and developments has resulted in the production of a new four-year plan in which the company is seen as being self-sufficient in 2011, and will finally kill-off the Environmental Charge the following year. For now, forcing the pace on reducing the Environmental Charge is likely to result in a deficit of £106,736 in the year 2009-10. Save a Cup needs to raise funds in the short term to cover this, in the period before the income fro the new streams successfully covers it.

Save a Cup has never had an easy ride, but has performed remarkably well in the circumstances. Today, it has set itself a tough new target to attract short-term revenue, while its seemingly well thought-out plans kick in.

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