First 100% plastic-free lidless takeaway cup launches in UK

The UK’s first 100% plastic-free lidless takeaway cup has launched at Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) centres across the country.

Named as ButterflyCup, the cup is recyclable along with cardboard and ordinary paper in the regular paper bin. It biodegrades naturally and can be composted.

WWT Sustainability head Lucy Smith said: “We are delighted to be using ButterflyCup across all our wetland sites. We have had brilliant feedback from staff and visitors when we trialled it at one of our centres.

“The product offers a simple but brilliant solution to part of the plastic waste crisis.”

ButterflyCup has no plastic laminate and the compact design removes the need for a plastic lid. The inks used in the cup are all plant-based.

Additionally, the cup’s patented folding design prevents splashes, leaks and drips.

The new cup has been designed in response to TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s challenge to major coffee chains to move to a ‘properly recyclable’ cup.

Every year, Britons throw 2.5 billion coffee cups to landfill, and only one in 400 of the total volume is recycled.

ButterflyCup founder and CEO Tommy McLoughlin said: “We are thrilled to be launching in the UK with WWT, an organisation whose ethos of protecting the natural world we share.

“It is a travesty that of the billions of coffee cups the UK uses each year, so few get recycled.

“We created ButterflyCup to lift the lid on this eco-disaster and help solve it.

“We believe it is the world’s most environmentally friendly disposable cup, and we hope more coffee outlets across the UK give their customers the option of using it in the near future.”

The ButterflyCup is currently in use in more than 20 countries across five continents.