Chamber and MSEC brew up plan for reusable coffee cups

Mullingar Chamber, in collaboration with Mullingar Tidy Towns, Mullingar Sustainable Energy Community, and Westmeath County Council, is exploring the introduction of a reusable coffee cup scheme for Mullingar, and an information session will be held on Tuesday March 25 (7pm) in the Annebrook House Hotel to discuss it.

Similar schemes have been successfully introduced in other towns and the benefits include:

Cost Savings: Businesses could achieve annual savings of €20,000, depending on their size and current use of disposable coffee cups.

Reduced Waste: Lower waste generation results in reduced disposal costs for businesses and contributes to a cleaner, more sustainable town.

Less Litter: A significant reduction in litter enhances the appearance and cleanliness of Mullingar.

Sustainability Image: Demonstrates the commitment of the town to environmental responsibility, enhancing its reputation as a forward-thinking, sustainable community.

The success of the scheme depends on widespread participation from local businesses. During the information session, the proposed structure of the scheme and participation details will be outlined.

The initiative will proceed only if there is sufficient interest and commitment from local businesses.

Killarney offers a positive example of a successful reusable coffee cup scheme; there almost 50 businesses have replaced single-use cups with a deposit and return scheme for takeaway drinks. That has garnered significant positive media attention, nationally and internationally. (More details about the Killarney scheme can be found here.)

All local businesses are encouraged to attend the session to share their views and learn more about how they can be part of this initiative.

Local views

Brian Wycherley, a student at Coláiste Mhuire, researched the concept when he was doing work experience at the Westmeath Examiner last year.

This is what he wrote at the time.

Killarney became the first town in Ireland to get rid of all disposable coffee and tea cups in July of 2023.

The Killarney Cup Project, a plan involving coffee shops, cafés and hotels, aimed to eradicate the nearly 23,000 disposable cups used yearly, many of which were found spilling from bins and littering the streets of the town.

It is a problem that we see here in Mullingar too.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, John Bawle of Mullingar Tidy Towns said when they go out picking up rubbish, they see takeaway cups discarded everywhere; “if you look at most of the bins, there are coffee cups in them”.

A reusable coffee cup scheme involves customers using their own reusable cup or paying a €2 deposit (in Killarney) for a reusable, returnable cup provided by the coffee shop.

An important part of the plan is that people can drop the cups at any of the 50-plus participating establishments signed up.

John Bawle said the first step is to “engage with some of the local establishments” to understand the appetite for a plan of this nature.

Brian Pierson, owner of Days Bazaar, told the Westmeath Examiner: “I think it’s a great plan. It would take time, like anything else. It could work. I think it could be positive.”

In the short-term, “it could be costly for people, but In the long run it would work, as the cups are expensive”.

Brian said about the price of disposable cups (20 cent each) could be completely phased out by a scheme like this.

John Bawle said that “the campaign needs to be strong – the people of Mullingar need to know what is going on and what is expected of them”.

“People want it but they need to be encouraged and they need to see how it works,” he said.

Derek Tuite of Juice Zone on Castle Street said: “It would have to be something the whole town works together on.”

“They [[customers] would be pretty okay with it. If it was helping the environment, I think everyone would get on board with it.”

John Bawle is confident “the majority of people would be fully behind it”.

“It’s the same people coming every day for coffee. If the option was available, I think they would use it. They are conscious of waste.”

Derek did add, though: “There was a big push for it a couple of years ago but now I couldn’t tell you the last time somebody came in with a reusable cup.”

Speaking this week, Frank Meredith – the Coffee Man – who operates his van at Clonmore Industrial Estate, said he would support a reusable coffee cup system, but has found from experience that customers often forget their cups, and it can be a challenge to make it work successfully.