Leading a smarter, more sustainable coffee culture - one cup at a time

Our UCL East campus community has created a more sustainable coffee culture with the hugely successful trial of a ‘Return-to-Earn’ reusable cup scheme.

The initiative, launched by our in-house caterers Gather and Gather (also known as Food at UCL), is helping to tackle disposable cup waste by encouraging students and staff to opt for a returnable, reusable cup.

The concept is simple but effective: buy your coffee, leave a £1 deposit for a reusable cup, and get your money back when you return it at a designated collection point. Each cup has a barcode and the refund is contactless.

The results? A game-changer. By the end of the trial, 79% of cups had been returned and the share of customers opting for disposable cups dropped to just 15%, proving that with the right encouragement, sustainability wins!

Even better, the cups and their green impact have travelled. Some participants have reported re-using them when ordering hot drinks at catering outlets on our UCL Bloomsbury campus too, extending the value of the scheme. 

Helen Fisher, Director of Operations for our UCL East Campus and the Office of the Vice Provost Strategy, said:

With such promising numbers, Sustainable UCL and Gather and Gather are now exploring how to roll out the 'Return to Earn' initiative across the university. Could we be seeing the end of single-use cups on campus? 

Learn more about the trial and how you can champion the scheme across other UCL sites.

---