Northampton Railway Station's 'Up for a Cup' campaign saves 63,000 paper cups from landfill

A recycling campaign at Northampton Railway Station has saved more than 63,000 paper cups from landfill as part of a national recycling drive to reduce waste and boost understanding.

The campaign, known as 'Up for the Cup', was run by London Northwestern Railway and it aimed to collect and recycle as many disposable paper cups as possible

The 0.75 tonnes of cups were collected from recycling bins added to the station, as well as others dotted around Northampton.

Annamaria Izzard, head of stations at London Northwestern Railway, said: “We’ve become a nation of coffee and tea lovers over recent years, often grabbing a hot drink on the way to work.

"While we know that reusable cups are the most environmentally friendly choice, it’s not always possible to carry these around with us every day.

"So, with millions of paper cups still being used each day in the UK, and more than 20,000 in Northampton alone, these bins are the next best thing.”

According to London Northwestern Railway, the challenge when recycling paper cups is they need to be captured separately to other waste.

This is because they require a plastic lining to be separated from the paper outer of the cup before the recycling process can take place.

Yet research by environmental charity Hubbub, who started the initiative, found that three in four people were still unaware of this requirement. So one aim of the campaign was to raise awareness about the process of recycling.

The project was funded by The Cup Fund, the UK’s largest grant fund to bolster coffee cup recycling. It has also been financed by Starbucks through their 5p charge on their single use coffee cups.

The bins are located in high footfall areas and near other recycling and general waste bins, with the intention of making it 'easier than ever' for passers-by to pop their cups into the correct bins.

Using the slogan ‘sip and separate’, the bins clearly show how to recycle the cups correctly, including both the lid from the cup itself and the liquid.

Anyone interested can keep up with the campaign by following the ‘Up for the Cup’ blog and social media pages.

They can also see hashtags for the campaign #InTheLoop and #UpForTheCup