Zeus, the Irish-owned global packaging company has today launched a nationwide infrastructure to recycle every type of paper coffee cup in Ireland as part of the Coffee Cup Recycling Scheme.
Through an exclusive partnership in Ireland with DS Smith, the scheme will provide a national recycling infrastructure to ensure the 200 million single-use coffee cups that are used and thrown away every year in Ireland do not end up in landfill. The AIL Group, the retail group behind Abrakebabra, the Bagel Factory and the O’Briens sandwich chain, has signed on as the first customer of the scheme. The coffee cup collection boxes will be rolled out to 80 O’Briens and Bagel Factory outlets nationwide from January 2020.
Speaking about the launch, owner of Zeus, Brian O’Sullivan said, “This is the solution to the problem of every coffee cup in Ireland – a complete, closed-loop system which has the capacity to recycle every type of paper coffee cup from every coffee shop, office or workplace. Through the Coffee Cup Recycling Scheme, we are providing that infrastructure, allowing every coffee cup in Ireland to be recycled correctly. We are calling on all businesses and customers nationwide to embrace this system, so we can work together to divert as many coffee cups as possible from going to landfill.”
Commenting on the partnership, Tom Campbell-White, DS Smith Recycling’s European Strategic Development Director, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Zeus to roll out the Coffee Cup Recycling Scheme to the Irish market. We broke new ground last year when we redefined coffee cup recycling and announced capacity to recycle 2.5 billion coffee cups at our mill in Kent in the UK. Building on this, we launched our coffee cup recycling boxes in the UK in September and we are seeing a great response from coffee retailers and other businesses. We are excited to work with Zeus on providing a recycling solution for Ireland’s coffee lovers.”
As part of the partnership, Zeus will use DS Smith’s coffee cup recycling boxes, which make it easier for consumers and businesses to recycle used coffee cups. Made from recycled paper packaging, the boxes can hold up to 700 used coffee cups. Once full, the boxes will be then be collected from businesses. To reduce the carbon footprint, Zeus will then compact the boxes and store until there is a full shipment load, before being shipped to DS Smith’s paper mill in Kent. Zeus will also be launching a dedicated website where customers can order the boxes.
Zeus owner, Brian 0’Sullivan, with the dual branded coffee cup recycling box.
