Killarney to become first Irish town to ban single use coffee cups

Fiona Frawley

The Coffee Cup Project aims to remove over 1 million single use coffee cups from the town annually.

Keep cup culture took a bit of a hit in Ireland over the pandemic, with many cafés calling a temporary ban on them in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19. Luckily, we’re now all fairly confident that a blitz through the dishwasher will dispel any germs and the rate at which the country ploughs through single use cups has slowed somewhat – but one Kerry town are taking things up a notch to ensure they keep those numbers down.

The Killarney Coffee Cup Project was launched yesterday, with an aim to make Killarney Ireland’s first single use coffee cup free town. The decision to move to a reusable takeaway system has been taken following an agreement by 25 local independent coffee shops and 21 hotels.

Organisers estimate that the project will remove over one million single use coffee cups from the town annually, or 18.5 tonnes of waste. The local independent coffee shops and hotels will no longer offer single use coffee cups from 31 July.

Today is the day…

We are delighted to announce our participation in the Killarney Coffee Cup Project, which will see over 45 business completely ditch their single-use cups and swap them for our reusable 2GoCups! pic.twitter.com/F9pp4fKLUB

— 2GoCup (@2GoCup_org) July 11, 2023

Killarney is known globally as a go-to Irish tourist town, with its National Park and surrounding lakes all popular attractions. However, recent voluntary park clean-ups showed that one of the most common forms of waste found in the Killarney National Park was single use coffee cups.

Recognising the impact the waste was having on the local environment, the local coffee shops collectively agreed that action was required. It is hoped that this new measure will have a visible impact on litter in the town.

But what happens if you’re in Killarney and don’t have a reusable cup? You won’t have to forego your flat white – The participating coffee shops have also agreed to introduce a collective deposit system by partnering with 2GoCup. The scheme enables customers to purchase a reusable cup for a €2 deposit, which is refundable when the cup is returned at any of the participating locations in Killarney or at 350 existing locations nationwide.

The decision coincides with the introduction of the ‘Latte Levy’, an impending 20c tax on single use coffee cups. The introduction of a reusable model ensures that the price of takeaway coffee will remain the same in the town for consumers.

Header images via Getty/2GoCup

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