A new environmentally friendly takeaway coffee cup alternative has come to Hastings district, and growing numbers of cafes are looking at taking up the sustainable offering.

Hastings District Council is calling for cafes across the district who are keen to do their part to reduce waste, to join a trial of the Again Again reusable coffee cup scheme – to be launched next month to mark Plastic Free July.

It’s estimated that in New Zealand about 295 million single-use cups are thrown out each year, which equates to about four million in Hastings alone.

In addition, these standard single-use coffee cups have a thin layer of plastic coating that means they can’t be recycled, and compostable versions are causing issues at local composter, BioRich.

The Again Again cup, however, is a recycled stainless steel cup that, as the name suggests, can be reused over and over again.

Again Again is a New Zealand company based in Wellington, and with the scheme the customer pays a $3 deposit to borrow a stainless steel cup, which gets refunded when it’s returned to any cafe that’s part of the Again Again network.

People can borrow more than one cup, and bring multiple back when they remember.

Cafes participating in the scheme pay a network membership fee and to help support them to make the change council is offering to pay about half the cost of a six-month trial.

Once up and running the scheme can actually save cafes money from the cost reduction in purchasing standard single-use cups.

Council waste minimisation officer Samantha Gibbons said that in its ongoing bid to reduce waste going to landfill council was always looking at ways to support the community achieve this goal.

“We know people have been getting better at using their own reusable coffee cups but it’s not always practical or effective.

“People forget to bring their cups, or may not have one with them when they decide they want one while they are out and about.

“With this scheme there is always a sustainable solution at any participating cafe so everyone can do their bit to look after the environment.”

Local cafe Cupple has got on board with the scheme and spokesperson Al Borrie said they jumped at the chance to participate.

“We want to minimise any environmental impact of doing business, and this is a simple solution that works for us, and gives added convenience to our customers.”

More information about Again Again can be found at www.againagain.co and to find out more about the subsidy go to https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-and-recycling/waste-minimisation/again-again-at-espresso/

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