How to Reduce Single-Use Coffee Cups in the Office

For many of us, coffee is a non-negotiable part of the workday. Single-use coffee cups in the office don't have to be, though. Takeaway cups and lunch packaging are among the easiest ways to move up the waste hierarchy: reduce and reuse first, recycle or compost second.

Plenty of businesses start by giving every staff member a reusable cup. It is a good first step, but it still depends on each person remembering the cup and washing it. Even the well-intentioned forget.

Practical ways to reduce single-use coffee cups in the office

• Create a mug library. Keep a stash of reusable cups somewhere visible near the door, so people grab one on the way out. Mismatched op-shop mugs work fine.

• Partner with local cafes. Ask the most popular cafes near your office to hold a set of cups for your team. Baristas usually know your regulars already, and no cafe enjoys paying for disposable cups.

• Join a cup-swap scheme. Green Caffeen and HuskeeSwap in Australia, or Again Again in New Zealand, let people borrow a reusable cup from one cafe and return it to another. No cup to remember, no washing up.

• Outsource the whole loop. Larger offices can bring in a service to run it. Cercle, for example, supplies reusable cups through cafes in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane office buildings, collects them from return pods and washes them for reuse.

• Highlight cafe discounts. Point people to the cafes that offer a discount for bringing your own cup. For anyone on two or three coffees a day, it adds up.

How to get sceptical colleagues on board

Some people won't see the point at first.

• Make it visible. Collect single-use cups separately from other waste for a month, then show the office the pile. A bin full of cups is more persuasive than a memo.

• Make it a competition. Set up cup bins for different teams or floors and track which one collects the least.

• Make it top-down. Ask leaders to carry a reusable cup, talk about the change in company comms and celebrate the people who get on board early.

Set up bins for the cups you can't avoid

Some single-use cups will still turn up. Collect them properly:

• Colour-code your bins and label the coffee cup stream clearly.

• Use signage and posters that stand out.

• Keep the label simple. A bin for single-use coffee cups works better than one with a long list of rules.

• Keep bins in complete, consistent stations rather than scattering singles around.

• Involve your green team, or anyone else who cares about waste.

Whatever you try, work with the circumstances you have rather than waiting for perfect ones. As Anne-Marie Bonneau, the Zero Waste Chef, puts it: "We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly."

Common questions

Can takeaway coffee cups go in the recycling bin?

Usually not. Most are fibre lined with plastic, which standard kerbside and office recycling can't handle. Check whether a dedicated cup collection operates in your area.

How do cup-swap schemes work?

You borrow a reusable cup from a participating cafe, usually through an app, and return it to any cafe in the network within a set period.

What is the easiest first step for a small office?

A mug library by the door. A visible, shared stash of cups catches people on the way out, which is exactly where good intentions usually fail.