If you’re picking up a coffee on your way to work, you will need to take your own cup to Waitrose. The supermarket’s takeaway coffee cups have been withdrawn from all of its Channel Island branches following the supermarket’s commitment to reduce the amount of plastic and packaging it uses.
Members of the supermarket’s loyalty scheme, myWaitrose, will continue to have the option to enjoy a free hot drink from the shop’s self-serve machine. However, customers will be asked to bring their own reusable cup to use rather than being offered a disposable cup when they go through the checkout.
Waitrose announced the change in April this year. The plan was to phase the programme out completely by the autumn across all its branches. The Channel Islands stores have been one of the first areas to achieve this target well within the autumn deadline.
Removing the cups further underlines the supermarket’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment and its use of plastics and packaging. It recently pledged to not sell any own label food in black plastic beyond 2019 and has also committed to make all own-label packaging widely recyclable, reusable, or home compostable by 2025.
Ian Burdekin, branch manager of Waitrose Admiral Park and Channel Islands director, said: “Waitrose has committed to save more than 52 million takeaway cups a year to help protect the environment. We are not alone in the commitment to reduce plastic and packaging and firmly believe it is the right direction to take in order to support the environment.
“It is good to see that our Channel Islands branches will have achieved the target of withdrawing the takeaway cups well before the autumn deadline.”
