Australians consume more than 50,000 cups of coffee every half hour, and an estimated 1 billion takeaway hot drink cups every year. If we lined up all the coffee cups used each year in Australia they would stretch round the world…twice! That’s a lot of coffee cups. Sadly, standard coffee cups made from liquid paperboard are rarely recycled. Even ‘compostable’ cups are rarely composted, because Australia’s existing composting facilities aren’t yet able to process them effectively, and it can be hard to transport enough of the cups to the right place for composting. This means coffee cups are a burden on our waste management services and our environment, filling up landfills and resulting in transport emission.Why can’t coffee cups currently be recycled?
In most areas of Victoria, the hard plastic lid can be recycled but the coffee cup itself should be put in the rubbish bin. Most cups are a mix of plastic and paper and only a few councils in Victoria can currently collect them for recycling.
Restoring Australian ecosystems. Supporting communities with their revegetation projects for a greener and healthier planet.
Fifteen Trees acknowledges Indigenous Australians as the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work, live and play.
We recognise that Indigenous Australians have cared for and lived in harmony with this land for millennia, and their knowledge and wisdom of the land endures.
We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and stand in solidarity as Indigenous Australians seek a fairer and more sustainable future for the land and its people.