The cup was created after TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall challenged major coffee chains to switch to a ‘properly recyclable cup’. According to River Cottage research Brits throw 5,000 coffee cups away every minute.
In his BBC documentary Hugh’s War on Waste, he said: “Only by changing to a cup that is properly recyclable in the public waste disposal system… can they [coffee major coffee chains] justify the bold environmental claims they are making. This is a solvable problem, so let’s see them solve it.”
Brits throw away an estimated 2.5Bn coffee cups a year, while only one in 400 cups gets recycled. If each of the 2.5Bn cups were placed on top of each other, it would create a stack long enough to stretch around the entire world.
The ButterflyCup can be recycled on a regular paper bin, composted at home or placed in your food waste bin.
Tommy McLoughlin, founder and chief executive of ButterflyCup, said: “We are thrilled to be launching in the UK with WWT, an organisation whose ethos of protecting the natural world we share.
“It is a travesty that of the billions of coffee cups the UK uses each year, so few get recycled. We created ButterflyCup to lift the lid on this eco disaster and help solve it.
“We believe it is the world’s most environmentally friendly disposable cup, and we hope more coffee outlets across the UK give their customers the option of using it in the near future.”
Despite the rise in reusable cups, the WWF forecasts that by 2030 the UK will use 33% more cups than it currently does now.
Lucy Smith, head of sustainability at WWT, added: “We are delighted to be using ButterflyCup across all our wetland sites. We have had brilliant feedback from staff and visitors when we trialled it at one of our centres.
“We offer a discount for refilling reusable cups but where this is not possible, a fully recyclable and compostable cup provides a great option. ButtlerflyCup’s could even be reused for seed planting and then put straight in the soil where they will fully break down. The product offers a simple but brilliant solution to part of the plastic waste crisis.”