The international coffee shop chain Starbucks will start giving customers a discount if they bring their own cups. The discount is part of a two-month trial in cafes in England. Starbucks said it wants to reduce the amount of waste and recycle more. The vice president of Starbucks UK said: "Starbucks is committed to increasing recycling rates and reusable cups are a key part of our overall waste reduction strategy." Bosses will look at the success of the trial and then decide if they will continue it. The company wants to cut down on the huge number of paper cups that are put in the trash. Customers who bring their own mugs will get a discount on all drinks, except for the cafe's cheaper filter coffee.
The issue of disposable paper cups has been in the news in England a lot recently. Around 2.5 billion of them are thrown away every year that's about seven million cups every day. Journalists have said that some coffee chains lie about how many paper cups they recycle. The journalists say the companies do not recycle as many cups as they say they do. This means customers wrongly believe that a coffee shop is environmentally friendly. A recycling service in the UK said that fewer than one in 400 paper cups at coffee shop chains are recycled. One coffee drinker said she would now bring her own cup. She said: "I am disappointed that cafes recycle so little. I thought they were more responsible."