https://resource.co/article/veolia-recycle-120m-coffee-cups-...
> However, two reprocessors have announced this year that they have the capability to recycle coffee cup waste. In March, packaging company DS Smith stated that it could recycle all the UK’s coffee cups at its paper mill in Kemsley, Kent, while on a smaller scale, paper manufacturer James Cropper launched its own trademarked ‘CupCycling’ process in May
> Costa announced its aim to recycle as many coffee cups as it sells by 2020, equating to 500 million cups. The programme involves the chain subsidising a number of waste collection companies, including Veolia, to collect takeaway cups from stores (£70 per tonne collected). This subsidy aims to raise the value of coffee cups as a material in the eyes of recyclers, making it more financially viable to collect them.
A colleague recently told me that re-usable coffee cups are about single-use plastics. I looked down at my coffee cup and found it to be both recyclable and biodegradable. He told me it was about the lids. The lid was the same.
Without further research, I would be a bit unsure about the cost of making a re-usable cup vs its lifetime vs biodegradable single-use cups. But despite the fact that things have already improved, I'm hearing they will be banned...