Borrow Cup
Ready to skip the disposable cup? Introducing Borrow Cup - a groundbreaking collaborative returnable cup scheme for Glasgow between major brands and independent cafes.
Led by Hubbub and local reuse start-up Reposit, we're launching Borrow Cup in Glasgow on 27th January 2025, to demonstrate how a collaborative model can improve the success of a returnable cup scheme, and understand how it can become environmentally, commercially and operationally viable. We’re aiming to achieve this through:
- Scale: A pioneering collaboration with independent cafes and major brands, to create a critical mass of participating stores and a high density of return points.
- User experience: A simple user journey with minimal friction points (no apps or sign-ups), designed based on behavioural insights, to improve convenience and appeal.
- Measurement: Cup tracking, reporting data and independent lifecycle analysis will measure uptake, returns and environmental impact, to determine how the system can become environmentally and financially viable.
Borrow Cup will run for an initial three month period to measure and understand it’s impact, with the aim that it will continue and expand beyond this point if it proves to be effective.
The problem
How many drinks in single-use cups do you have in a year? Well, in Scotland over 388 million disposable cups are used every year*, and in Glasgow they make up over 30% of drinks waste in on-street bins**. Personal reusable cups are a solution to this, but are often forgotten at home or inconvenient to carry with us. This is where a returnable cup system comes in, allowing people to borrow and return a reusable cup from a cafe, bar or restaurant.
When a returnable cup system works, it can have a lower environmental impact than single-use cups, because producing and recycling or disposing of single-use cups can create more carbon emissions than using reusable cups over and over again.
So how does it work?
Get on board with Borrow Cup
- Want to spread the word about Borrow Cup? Drop us an email to receive our comms pack and help promote Borrow Cup to your network
- If you’re a business or organisation in Glasgow that uses disposable cups and are keen to join the scheme, or host a return point, get in touch!
Why is the scheme Borrow Cup branded?
We’ve created Borrow Cup as a shared brand to demonstrate the collaborative nature of the scheme and ensure communications are clear and consistent, improving customer recognition and understanding of the scheme. Using a standardised cup also makes the scheme operationally simpler to deliver, improving commercial viability and allowing the scheme to easily expand to other businesses.
Who can join the scheme?
If you’re a business in Glasgow that sells drinks in single-use cups, we’d love to hear from you! We’re also interested to hear from Glasgow businesses that sell food in single-use packaging, or businesses based outside of Glasgow, to explore how the scheme can expand in future.
Why is there a £1 deposit for the cup?
Customers will pay a £1 deposit to borrow the cup, as this incentivises them to return the cup and receive their £1 back. In our surveying, 63% said they were willing to pay at least a £1 deposit, which dropped to 27% who were willing at least £2. By having the deposit at £1, this keeps the cost barrier relatively low, which should lead to higher uptake.
Is the Borrow Cup scheme better for the environment than single-use cups?
The environmental impact of the scheme will be measured throughout to understand how it compares to the impact of single-use cups, in terms of raw materials, washing, transport and end-of-life processes. The environmental impact of the scheme has been minimised through decisions such as:
- Using a lightweight plastic cup, which has a lower environmental impact to produce than alternatives such as steel or aluminium.
- Using an e-vehicle for the collection and delivery of the cups.
- Using Reposit’s washing facility in Wishaw, 30 minutes outside of Glasgow, to reduce transport distances.
Current carbon modelling predicts that a Borrow Cup needs to be used 3 times for it to have a lower environmental impact than disposable cups. Throughout the initial three month period of Borrow Cup being live, the environmental impact of the scheme will be assessed by an independent party and these results will be shared publicly.
*Zero Waste Scotland, 2022, **Keep Scotland Beautiful, 2024
Are you a business that wants to collaborate?
If you have a challenge to share, or want to get involved with our work, we'd love to hear from you.
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