Single-use cup consultation - get involved

Our public perception data shows just how much single-use cups contribute to Scotland's litter emergency - with 53% of people frequently spotting single-use (hot and cold) beverage containers littered across our country.

So, we wholeheartedly welcome the recent Scottish Government announcement that a public consultation on single-use cup charges has been opened and will remain so until 14 November 2024.

Paul Wallace, our Head of Operations said; “ We very much look forward to engaging with this consultation, and encourage everyone – consumers and businesses - to have their say on this important issue.

“We have been pushing hard for action through our Cup Movement activity to be taken to reduce our consumption of single-use cups for many years and were pleased to see measures brought forward in the Circular Economy Bill.

“However, one thing we are sure of is that no single measure will be effective on its own. A holistic approach - working with national and local government, businesses and communities to ultimately encourage people to switch from single-use to reusable products is what we want to see. 

“While we support a charge in principle to encourage people to reduce their reliance on single-use items, we call for the proceeds from a charge to be used to make it easy for people to recycle effectively as trialled through #TakeItBack or used to develop infrastructure which makes it the norm for people to borrow and return reusable alternatives, as we trialled along the route of the NC500 last year.”

As an environmental charity we want to see more done to help people move away from their reliance on single-use items, and to reduce the valuable raw materials and CO2 emissions used in creating and disposing of them.

You can learn more about our work to tackle our problem with single-use cups through Cup Movement®.

You can read and respond to the consultation here.