Charging for single-use disposable beverage cups: consultation

1. Introduction

The Scottish Government has set a target date for net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045. We have committed to doing this in a way that is just and fair for all people across Scotland. We recognise this will be a challenging task and that, to achieve this, Scotland needs to fundamentally change how it produces, consumes and manages resources. Restoring Scotland’s natural resources and tackling the global climate and nature crises will help to build a stronger, more resilient economy and improve the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s people. ‘The Environment Strategy for Scotland’^[5] sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring Scotland plays its full role in tackling these emergencies, while acknowledging this will require transformative changes across our economy and society.

Sustainable use of our resources is key to achieving these goals. There is a need to move towards a circular economy designed to minimise waste by keeping resources in use for as long as possible and ending our reliance on single-use products.

Over the past ten years, the total amount of waste going to landfill in Scotland has dropped by over a third, with the most recent official statistics showing that 23% of waste is now going to landfill. Scotland has met its 2025 target to reduce all waste by 15% for two years in a row.

However, we need to further accelerate efforts to tackle waste and ensure sustainable choices are easier for households and businesses. Only 1.3% of the resources Scotland uses are cycled back into the economy, with over 98% of Scotland’s material use coming from virgin resources^[7]. The country's (per capita) material footprint of 21.7 tonnes far surpasses the global average of 11.9 tonnes and is close to three times what's considered a sustainable level.

Following an earlier consultation, the Scottish Government published a draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map^[8] in January 2024. The Route Map sets out the strategic direction for delivering our system-wide, comprehensive vision of Scotland’s circular economy from now to 2030. These include measures and interventions aimed at reducing consumption of products and materials by mainstreaming reuse and repair, and incentivising and promoting sustainable choices. Introducing a charge for single-use disposable beverage cups is one of the actions to increase and normalise reuse. The Route Map will be finalised later in 2024.

Alongside the Route Map, the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill^[9], passed in June 2024, underpins Scotland’s transition to a circular economy and modernises Scotland’s waste and recycling services. It amends the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to provide a new power enabling Scottish Ministers to make regulations requiring suppliers of specified single-use items to charge a minimum amount for them, with the aim of reducing their consumption and the environmental harm caused. Introducing a charge on single-use disposable beverage cups would be the first use of this power.

This consultation is intended to set the foundations for the regulations to introduce the charge. It is an important step in developing a charge for single-use disposable beverage cups, building on the success of the single use carrier bag charge. To support the consultation process, we are looking to hear from the widest possible range of people and organisations across Scotland on the proposed approach and to continue to work closely together to develop an effective, proportionate and easy to use system.

Background

In the 2017-18 Programme for Government^[10], the Scottish Government announced its commitment to support the transition to a resource efficient, low carbon and circular economy, increasing our efforts to end ‘throw-away’ culture and reduce demand for single-use items. To help achieve this, Scottish Government established the Expert Panel on Environmental Charging and Other Measures (EPECOM)^[11] to provide expert advice on what could be adopted in Scotland to encourage long-term and sustainable changes in consumer and producer behaviour, with the initial remit of looking at single-use disposable beverage cups.

In its 2019 report, the Panel found that there was strong evidence that a separate charge for single-use disposable beverage cups should be put in place in Scotland. The Panel recommended that “separate minimum, mandatory pricing for cup and drink should be introduced at a national level to effectively change behaviour, ensure consistent messages to the consumer, and create a level playing field for retail and businesses”^[12].

Responses to the 2019 ‘Developing Scotland's circular economy: consultation on proposals for legislation’ showed that nearly three-quarters of organisations (73%) and almost all individuals (97%) supported the proposals for Scottish Ministers to have powers to require charges for single-use items that are harmful to the environment^[13]. EPECOM stakeholder engagement events in 2019 also found there was significant enthusiasm, particularly among young people, for government interventions to support and drive forward sustainable behaviour on the part of consumers, producers and businesses^[14].

Building on this and the EPECOM recommendations, the 2020-21 Programme for Government committed to ‘take further steps to consult on a charge for single-use disposable beverage cups’^[15]. This began a range of stakeholder engagement on developing a charge, including establishing the Single-Use Disposable Cups Charge Advisory Group^[16]. The Advisory Group was set up to provide expertise and advice on the implementation of the charge, practical issues related to its operation and how it would apply to a range of settings or sectors. The Advisory Group includes wide ranging representation from retail, hospitality, local authorities, third sector and equalities groups. Insights from the Advisory Group and further engagement with Zero Waste Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and a range of other public and private sector organisations have informed the consultation proposals.

Consultation proposals have also been informed by available research and evidence. Zero Waste Scotland commissioned a research paper ‘Consumption of Single-Use Disposable Beverage Cups in Scotland’^[17] which was published in June 2023 and sets out the single-use disposable beverage cup usage in Scotland, the potential impact of a charge as well as international examples of alternative reusable cup schemes.

The paper forecasts that implementing a minimum charge alone, with no additional measures such as a discount for using a reusable cup, would reduce the number of single-use beverage cups placed on the market by an estimated 15% to 39% a year by 2035.

The case for change

The approach recommended by EPECOM and set out in this consultation builds on the success of the single use carrier bag charge. The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014^[18] (amended by the Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021^[19]) requires all retailers to charge a minimum of £0.10 for each new single use carrier bag, to encourage bag reuse and reduce the visible impact of litter. The money raised from charging for carrier bags is retained by businesses and they are encouraged to use this money to support good causes. Available data only covers signatories to Zero Waste Scotland’s voluntary portal but estimates the current £0.10 bag charge could generate circa £14.7 million towards good causes^[20]. Prior to the charge, 800 million single use carrier bags were issued annually in Scotland and within the first year this had fallen by 80%^[21].

An estimated 388.7 million single-use beverage cups were used in Scotland in 2021-22, creating 5,400 tonnes of waste. This equates to 71 single-use disposable beverage cups per capita per year, one of the highest compared to nations in the European Union^[22].

The best way to reduce the impact these cups have on the environment, per waste hierarchy principles of prevention of waste, is to reduce consumption of them and encourage consumers to use reusable alternatives. While recycling the remaining cups on the market can have complementary benefits, the focus should remain on first reducing consumption.

Most single-use disposable beverage cups are made from paper and lined with plastic. This makes them waterproof but, in most cases, means they are not generally recyclable and they require specialist processing facilities to be recycled, where proper end-of-life treatment necessitates correct waste steam separation and processing. In addition, once used, the cup is often contaminated with liquid, which is a further barrier to recycling^[23]. Since the materials contained in many single-use disposable beverage cups are high in volume and low in value, it can therefore be economically unviable for businesses to collect and transport them over significant distances to recycle them^[24]. Some retailers already have voluntary cup recycling schemes in place but these are dependent on the consumer returning the cup to a specific retail location. This option is not always widely known, and not always practical for the consumer who has bought the product as a takeaway item.

In 2022, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations committed to introduce a UK-wide mandatory takeback requirement for fibre-based composite cups through Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging. Mandatory takeback would require sellers of filled fibre-based composite cups that employ 10 or more FTEs to provide for the separate collection of used cups (either generated in-store or consumed 'on-the-go').

This policy would be a complementary measure to the cups charge and help achieve circular economy goals. Charging for single-use disposable beverage cups is expected to reduce consumption of single-use disposable beverage cups, promoting behavioural change and moving consumers to reusable alternatives. Mandatory takeback would help improve the recycling of remaining fibre-based single-use disposable beverage cups.

The majority of single-use disposable beverage cups are used for ‘on the go’ consumption, which leaves them discarded in diverse locations over a widely dispersed geographical area^[25]. The result is that many end up in residual waste streams, landfill, or leak into the environment through littering.

Littered items such as single-use disposable beverage cups are believed to encourage further littering because they are so visible. Additionally, when littered and disposed of incorrectly, these items release potentially harmful materials and chemicals which end up in terrestrial and marine environments. Depending on the material in question, some can persist for hundreds of years causing enormous damage to ecosystems. Furthermore, the disposal of these items create a costly waste problem for local authorities, adding a financial burden on the taxpayer. It is estimated that local authorities in Scotland spend approximately £1 million a year on waste collection and disposal of these items^[26].

Given these costs, the policy is considered necessary in order to directly drive down the consumption of single-use disposable beverage cups and therefore reduce the negative social and environmental impacts.

Scotland is committed to working toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals^[27]. Goal 12 is about ensuring sustainable consumption and changing our consumption habits to be more sustainable through reducing waste generation and promoting circular economy practices.

We are also committed to align with or exceed the EU Directive on single use plastics (Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive (EU) 2019/904) where able to do so and in a manner that contributes towards maintaining and advancing standards^[28]. Article 4 of the Directive requires necessary measures to be taken to achieve an ambitious and sustained reduction in the consumption of single-use plastic cups for beverages (and food containers). To achieve this, we are guided by the Waste Hierarchy – reduce, reuse, recycle. The waste hierarchy, as set out in the European Waste Framework Directive^[29] is a key cornerstone of the Scottish Government’s draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map^[30] and driver in our waste management policy and legislation.

The most desirable method of waste management is to prevent waste in the first place. Making reusable cups use the norm – through personal reusables, in store ceramic cups, or takeaway returnable cup schemes – could result in a substantial reduction in demand for single-use disposable versions of these items, therefore reducing the volume of these items found in general waste, litter bins or littered – and consequently reducing the cost to local authorities and others who are responsible for their collection and disposal.

Furthermore, the policy will contribute towards goals outlined in Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET)^[31]. Specifically, the vision to create a wellbeing economy which is thriving across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Reducing material consumption, particularly with problematic single-use items, will help keep our economy within environmental limits, and meet climate and nature targets.

Source: EPECOM Report 2019: Single-use disposable cups, Recommendations^[32]

Links to other policies

The charge would not sit in isolation and would be part of a range of measures being taken to build a circular economy and reduce waste. For example, the Scottish Government has already taken action by banning the supply, and in some cases the manufacture, of some of the most problematic single-use plastics including microbeads (2018)^[33]; plastic-stemmed cotton buds (2019)^[34]; single-use plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks), plates, straws, beverage stirrers and balloon sticks; food containers made of expanded polystyrene; and cups and other beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, including their covers and lids (2022)^[35]. The impact of the most recent ban is currently being evaluated and further activities are underway to ban other problematic items, such as single-use vapes^[36] and wet wipes containing plastic^[37].

The Scottish Government is working with the other UK nations to implement pEPR from 2025 which applies the ‘polluter pays' principle, making producers financially responsible for managing their packaging at end-of-life. It will require producers to pay local authorities the full net cost of operating an efficient and effective household packaging collection service. Per above, pEPR work also includes a proposed requirement for mandatory takeback of fibre composite single-use beverage cups.

We also remain committed to the delivery of a successful Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for single-use drinks containers but believe more should be done to tackle our reliance on single-use disposable beverage cups. There are no plans for single-use disposable beverage cups to be included in a DRS^[38].

Considerations

The First Minister set out the Scottish Government’s key priorities for Scotland in a statement to the Scottish Parliament^[39]:

• Eradicating child poverty;
• Growing the economy;
• Tackling the climate emergency; and
• Improving public services.

A charge on single-use disposable beverage cups would help achieve the goal of tackling the climate emergency by reducing consumption of single-use beverage cups and contributing towards moving us to a more circular economy.

The ‘2023-24 Programme for Government’^[40] re-iterated these aims, committing the Scottish Government to drive a transition to a circular economy through supporting the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill. It set out our priority actions for our waste and recycling targets by publishing a final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, and by delivering the new ‘National Litter and Flytipping Strategy’s Year One Action Plan’.

It is expected that the implementation of a charge on single-use disposable beverage cups will help meet these priorities by: reducing the volume of waste created; reducing the numbers of these items entering terrestrial and marine ecosystems through littering; and encouraging wider and more sustainable behaviour change around the consumption of single-use items and to tackle our throwaway culture, assisting to meet the aforementioned commitments.

Engagement with the Single-Use Disposable Cups Charge Advisory Group and additional engagement working in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and a range of other public and private sector organisations has provided valuable initial perspectives on potential policy options and raised key questions. We are now consulting on our proposed approach and key issues to ensure the design of the charge is appropriate and will work in practice; and to help us understand any additional impacts on suppliers and consumers. This will ensure an approach which is effective, evidence based and proportionate.

There are a number of approaches that could be taken towards implementing the charge. As a devolved nation, we must deliver a scheme which is within devolved competencies, recognising that some levers, such as product design requirements are reserved or restricted by operation of the Internal Market Act. These often relate to the production of our products, services and materials which involve supply chains that go beyond Scotland, spanning the UK, European Union, and the globe.

It is clear that many areas to drive more rapid progress require further action from the UK Government. These areas include product design and standards, the role of VAT and tax to incentivise and encourage sustainable behaviours, and measures to influence global markets and reduce imported and exported emissions.

The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (the Act) was passed by the UK Parliament, without the consent of the Scottish Parliament or any devolved legislature. The Act can potentially undermine the intended legal effect of legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament, and the Scottish Government is actively considering the risk the Act poses to all new legislation.

The Act introduces market access principles for goods in the UK, including the mutual recognition principle for goods. The Act provides that a ‘manner of sale requirement’, being a statutory requirement that governs any aspect of the circumstances or manner in which goods are sold (such as the price), is not within the scope of the mutual recognition principle.

While the policy proposals still require to be finalised at the end of the consultation, it is our view that a minimum charge for single-use disposable beverage cups is a manner of sale requirement, and that the mutual recognition principle of the Act does not apply. We will fully assess the risk to delivery the Act may pose, and how that risk is managed, once we finalise our policy proposals after taking into account consultation responses. We will continue to work with the other UK nations through the established Common Framework process.

There are a number of businesses and organisations in Scotland who have charged, or currently do charge, for single-use disposable beverage cups^[41]/[42]. However, this is entirely voluntary, and there is no consistent overarching approach for implementation. While available evidence suggests these individual initiatives have reduced the consumption of single-use disposable beverage cups, as they are happening often in isolation there may be unintended consequences. Interventions do not occur in isolation and increased costs at one business may shift demand to another which is not implementing an equivalent charge^[43]. A voluntary charge would provide flexibility to business to implement a charge for sustainability reasons. However, we are aware from feedback provided by the Advisory Group that suppliers do not favour a voluntary charge and that achieving a level playing field across Scotland is needed to support business and change behaviour. Therefore, a mandatory charge is the preferred, and suggested, approach.

Article 13 of the EU Directive on single-use plastics would have required the UK to report to the EU Commission what measures have been taken to reduce consumption of single-use plastic cups and the number of these items placed on the market each year. The Scottish Government is committed to align with or exceed the EU Directive on single-use plastics where able to do so and in a manner that contributes towards maintaining and advancing standards. We are aware that there are concerns relating to increasing legislative burdens around the addition of reporting requirements. We are also aware of the pressure on the resources and expertise within enforcement bodies to enforce such requirements. We are therefore not proposing that any reporting requirements be included within the regulations and the Scottish Government will consider what is the best approach to evaluating the impact of the regulations.

EPECOM recommended a cost-neutral approach to implementing a charge. With this approach the total cost of the drink to consumers would not be influenced by the charge and would remain the same as before the charge was implemented. Advisory Group feedback on this approach raised concerns about the cost that this will incur on business; and the significant enforcement challenges this would cause. However, previous consumer feedback raised concerns that any charge would be used to mask a price increase. Having considered this feedback and the powers that Scottish Ministers are able to exercise, we are not proposing to mandate that the charge is implemented in a cost neutral way. It is ultimately for suppliers to decide the cost of the drinks that they supply and therefore we propose to require suppliers to apply a minimum charge for each single-use disposable beverage cup purchased by the consumer. There is the option for suppliers to internalise some or all of the cost of the charge in order to keep the price of the drink the same for customers, or indeed to offer a discount if customers bring a reusable cup. This would be a decision for the supplier and would not be controlled by the regulations.

This is consistent with the approach taken to implementing the carrier bag charge. We have also considered global approaches to implementing similar charging models. Some have included requirements that suppliers had to accept reusables, with the only exemption being that the reusable is too dirty. Requiring the acceptance of reusables would help to meet the objectives of reducing the consumption of single-use disposable beverage cups. This approach would add an additional level of complexity, as well as potential additional resource and cost burdens to suppliers. We are not proposing to adopt this approach and we assume that market forces will result in enough options for reusables to be accepted to give consumers sufficient options to avoid the charge. There are choices to be made on how we approach this to meet our objectives. The next section outlines our proposed approach with the following sections providing more detail and questions to ensure that the approach is proportionate and effective.