Why Takeaway Coffee Cups Do Not Belong In New Zealand Recycling Bins

OPINION

How we (incorrectly) dispose of our takeaway coffee cups is a sign of our cognitive dissonance around climate change. But small actions add up, and can provide hope in dark times, argues Johanna Thornton.

It’s a sadly familiar crime scene. The bin clearly marked “recycling” strewn with all manner of illicit items that most certainly can’t be recycled. A prime offender? The takeaway coffee cup.

Seeing this item incorrectly disposed of, to me, is emblematic of a larger issue – that we’ve simply given up caring where our rubbish ends up. Recycling has become so convoluted, and hardly any of it gets recycled anyway, so why bother trying? We’ve got way bigger fish to fry.

But some of us are just generally confused. Coffee cups are made of paper and plastic – they can both be recycled, right?

Wrong, unfortunately. These single-use paper cups have a plastic lining (to keep hot coffee contained) and it’s basically impossible to separate the paper from the lining, meaning takeaway coffee cups are destined for landfill. The lid is most commonly plastic polystyrene (#6), one of the hardest to recycle due to a lack of facilities that can process this type of plastic – if it has a number six, it goes in the landfill bin too.

But – and there’s a big but – many takeaway coffee cups are labelled as ‘compostable’ or biodegradable, made from polylactic acid (PLA), a plant-based bioplastic derived from cornstarch and sugarcane. Far from being able to throw them in your compost bin with your garden waste and tea leaves, PLA generally requires high temperatures to break down and the controlled conditions of a commercial compost facility. It’s greenwashing in cup form – a way for companies, and the people who purchase from them, to feel better about their single-use packaging options.

Compostable cups can only go into the organics bin if the contents of that bin is destined for commercial composting – there should be a sign on the bin telling you if so. At workplaces, or at a cup drop-off bin at your local cafe, that is sometimes the case. But if in doubt, put these “green” cups in the rubbish/landfill bin.

These recycling changes also saw households receive individual food scrap bins for disposing of household organic matter. While these cute little guys are great for coffee grounds, fruit, vege scraps and eggs shells, they are not suitable for compostable food containers like coffee cups. Compostable packaging has additives like ink, dye and heavy metals that can contaminate compost and impact the health of soil. The Ministry for the Environment’s directive is that used compostable packaging like coffee cups can “only go in your rubbish bin”.

The common theme here? Takeaway coffee cups belong in the trash.

What can and can’t be recycled has long baffled us, if the contents of our bins are anything to go by. The Ministry for the Environment estimates 16% of all materials placed in household kerbside recycling bins are contaminated, meaning the whole bin ends up in landfill. That seems on the conservative side.

In environments like workplaces, apartments and public bins, where recycling efforts are communal, the outcomes are even worse. I interviewed one of Auckland council’s “bin cops” for a story in Paperboy magazine (RIP), tasked with checking inside West Auckland’s recycling bins for items that shouldn’t be in there. Envirowaste inspector Duane Albert uncovered all manner of trash inside recycling bins, from car parts to nappies to needles, and said that big communal bins in apartments, where people couldn’t be made individually responsible for what’s been thrown out, were by far the worst for contamination.

A recent anecdotal visual survey of the bins at my office, which are cheerfully coded by colour: green for organics; yellow for mixed recycling and red for landfill uncovered typical carelessness. The recycling bin had the ubiquitous plastic sushi tray with soy-filled plastic fish and leftover rice, a used tea bag, and sullied Gladwrap. Right on top? Takeaway coffee cups.

For the love of humanity can we stop throwing our takeaway coffee cups in the recycling bin?

Or, could we stop using them altogether? A reusable coffee cup, or a good old mug is a simple and effective way to reduce our reliance on single-use coffee cups, and many cafes offer a discount for their use. My local cafe, for example, has a 40c discount for a reusable cup. But the benefits don’t stop there. It’s nicer drinking coffee out of your own cup than sipping it through a plastic lid destined for the bin, plus it’s easier to spot on the counter when it’s ready. If you’ve forgotten your cup, consider if you have time to enjoy your coffee at the cafe, in a real mug. You’ll be saving one of an estimated 295 million takeaway beverage cups that end up in landfill in New Zealand every year.

There are encouraging efforts being made on the other side of the cafe counter too. There are countless stories of local cafes trialling reuse programmes. Let’s Reuse Hamilton was a first-of-its-kind initiative to help cafes implement a cup-lending system by introducing them to the Again Again system, which offers free-to-borrow stainless steel cups and containers that are managed via an app – customers have three weeks to return the container before they’re charged for the cup. Again Again cups are available nationwide, and notable spots in Auckland that have taken up the scheme include some of Britomart’s hospitality outlets, Ripe Deli, Williams Eatery and Mojo cafes.

A wealth of information about reuse programmes in New Zealand is available on the Takeaway Throwaways website, an initiative focused on eliminating single-use plastic serviceware, particularly in food and beverage settings, and promoting reusable alternatives. Takeaway Throwaways highlights a range of schemes across the country (and overseas), from Queenstown, where Be Chunky stainless steel cups work on a deposit return scheme, to Waiheke Island, where used glass jars and lids are collected from Good to Go community hubs and distributed to cafes to use for takeaway drinks and food.

Even Air NZ, which is far too dependent on single-use plastic for its flight services, has trialled reusables on board, which could save millions of cups a year going into landfill (Air NZ uses more than 10 million single-use cups every year). In March this year, it removed single-use cups on six domestic flights, as well as eliminating plastic cups from its lounges. As part of a “case study”, Air NZ asked passengers to bring their own cup or use one of the reusable cups on board for tea, coffee or water. The airline said it “will be continuing our work to understand how we can reduce single-use cups”. Let’s hope there’s much more action from them in the future.

While these efforts are encouraging, New Zealand has a serious lack of reusable systems, something that was laid bare during the pandemic when growing momentum around reusable cups and containers screeched to a halt in favour of single-use “sanitary” plastics. It feels like we’re slowly getting back to where we were pre-pandemic, but I fear there’s a collective sense that caring about a coffee cup feels like a drop in the ocean compared to the myriad issues facing the world.

Throwing them in the wrong bin represents our inertia in a climate crisis. Why bother when there are bigger, more pressing problems facing us? While I don’t disagree, I think small steps are emblematic of hope for a better future, and care for one another.

So please, stop putting coffee cups in the bin, recycling or otherwise.

Johanna Thornton is deputy editor of Viva and lifestyle premium for the NZ Herald with an extensive background in lifestyle journalism. She’s written several stories on sustainability, including this piece on the rise of plastics during the pandemic, an interview with the women tackling the plastic associated with online shopping, and an interview with Boring Oat Milk founder Morgan Maw.

More on climate action

From sustainably-minded design to future forecasting.

The Only Circular Fashion Awards In Aotearoa Return. Here’s Your First Look At The Finalists. Get to know the designers working towards solutions for a truly sustainable fashion industry in New Zealand.

What Should We Wear During The Climate Emergency Era? Designers at the helm of eco-conscious projects are attempting to answer the question.

Climate Activist Brianna Fruean’s Vital Fight For The Pacific. Hear the Pacific Climate Warrior’s call in the face of devastating change.

From Sāmoa To MoMA: Why Yuki Kihara Is The Most Prolific Pacific Artist In The World Right Now. Her piercing, queer, indigenous perspective offers new ways of storytelling, reframing history and asking the tough questions when it comes to individual acceptance, community, legacies of colonialism, and the impact of human-caused climate change.

Will The Future Be Fun? With These 20 Ideas, It Could Be. All we need to do is change the way we organise ourselves in cities.