Council joins Australia’s leading reusable cup scheme
Published on 12 February 2021
Swap-and-go coffee cup scheme, Green Caffeen, has launched a partnership with Hunter Joint Organisation to make it easier for locals to enjoy a takeaway coffee, without the eco guilt. Seven councils in the region, including Cessnock City Council, are participating with the scheme adding to the Hunter Joint Organisation’s commitment to the circular economy and waste reduction.
Green Caffeen’s cups are based on the philosophy of the circular economy and are made from recycled materials. The goal is to design out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use as long as possible. This means that once a cup reaches the end of its viable life, Green Caffeen collects the old cups and recycles them into new cups. It was this commitment to circular economy principles that particularly appealed to Hunter Joint Organisation.
"The Hunter region is going circular – we’re working towards transitioning to a circular economy to reduce waste to landfill and innovate in industry. Single-use coffee cups don’t fit the bill when it comes to a reuse economy, so we’ve partnered with swap-and-go pioneers Green Caffeen to help Hunter cafes and communities make their next cup of coffee circular! Delivered as part of the Hunter Joint Organisation’s regional Small Acts Big Change program, Green Caffeen offers an Australian-made, sustainable, cup reuse scheme free of charge for cafes and coffee drinkers," says Bob Pynsent, Hunter Joint Organisation Board Chair and Mayor, Cessnock City Council.
Green Caffeen’s reusable cup scheme makes being eco-friendly a simple choice for coffee drinkers. Consumers simply need to download the Green Caffeen app and sign up, then get your reusable cup from a participating café. Enjoy your cup of coffee, then return the cup to any Green Caffeen café. And as long as you return the cup within 30 days, it’s completely free to use. It’s like the library for coffee cups.
It’s easy for cafes too, with no fee to join the scheme. Green Caffeen is leading the reusable drive in Australia and showing just how easy it can be to ditch single-use cups. With over 18,600 people using it in over 580 cafés Australia-wide, it’s the biggest roll-out of a reusable system anywhere in the country.
"We’re excited to be able to bring Green Caffeen on a large scale to the Hunter region. Green Caffeen is a simple concept that allows both cafes and coffee and tea drinkers the chance to transition away from single use cups and join with thousands of other Aussies making the change from one use to reuse. The Green Caffeen app is here to make reusing simple, convenient and accessible to all without needing to remember, wash or store your own cup," says Damien Clarke, Co-founder of Green Caffeen.
Over a billion disposable cups are thrown away each year in Australia. Many of these end up in the sea, polluting the ecosystem and destroying marine life. Changing our takeaway coffee habits is one simple step that can have a big impact. It’s not just the environment that benefits either – cafes report an average saving of $72 per customer on single-use cups with Green Caffeen’s simple swap and go system.
Damien continues, "Green Caffeen saves cafes the cost of single use packaging as well as saving the environment, so it’s a real no-brainer for them to jump on board. Green Caffeen was deliberately designed with cafes in mind to help reduce environmental footprint and increase their bottom line – that’s the secret to our success. We welcome all enquiries from cafes in the region that are looking to do their bit for the planet in 2021."
One consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was some cafes being reluctant to accept reusable coffee cups due to hygiene concerns. Green Caffeen helps to allay some of these concerns and has also created a guide to COVID-safe practices for cafes, plus signage for customers to help minimise contact points.
With this simple reusable scheme, customers can avoid the confusion that’s around single use cups. Forget trying to determine if a cup is compostable, recyclable or biodegradable, and instead switch to the easy way to reuse.
Green Caffeen will be launching at cafes across the following Hunter region councils: Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens, Singleton, Maitland, Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter. Cafes that want to up their green game and be the café of choice for conscious consumers can sign up here.
Coffee drinkers can find participating Green Caffeen café’s on the Café Finder.
How it works:
- Download the Green Caffeen app and sign up with your details
- Scan a reusable cup at a participating café
- Sip your lovely hot cup of coffee and feel the life force flow through you
- Return to any participating café within 30 days (if you can’t return it within 30 days, you’ll incur a $12.99 fee to make sure there’s plenty of cups in the system for everyone to use)
- Repeat, repeat, repeat
Key statistics
- Over one billion disposable coffee cups are thrown away in Australia each year
- Currently only 8% of disposable coffee cups are recycled
- Green Caffeen cups are made in Australia from recycled material
- Cups are made from a blend of food grade, BPA-free recycled material all designed, sourced and manufactured in Australia
- 556,316 cups of coffee have been enjoyed in Green Caffeen cups, saving 5591 bins worth of rubbish from landfill
- Over 18,600 consumers signed up and using Green Caffeen
This project is a NSW Environment Protection Authority Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.