Response to ‘latte levy’ lobbying claims

Response to ‘latte levy’ lobbying claims

Written by Defra Press Office

A disposable coffee cup. Pic: Thinkstock.


This morning, the Independent reports that Britain’s largest café chain, Costa Coffee, ‘obstructively lobbied’ the government against introducing a charge for single-use coffee cups.

The so-called ‘latte levy’ was the subject of a HM Treasury call for evidence last year, but as set out in the 2018 Budget, the Government concluded that a levy on all disposable cups – for both hot and cold drinks – would not, at that point, deliver a decisive shift from disposable to reusable cups across all beverage types. This was based on evidence from a wide range of stakeholders, with 162,000 responses to the call for evidence.

This government remains firmly committed to eliminating avoidable plastic waste and we will continue to explore ways to encourage reuse and increase recycling rates, including for takeaway cups.

Businesses are already taking steps to limit their environmental impact, but we expect industry to go further and will return to the issue if sufficient progress is not made.

A Government spokesperson said:

We are committed to eliminating avoidable plastic waste, and as we develop our policies on extended producer responsibility we will continue to explore ways to encourage reuse and increase recycling rates, including for takeaway cups.

Businesses are already taking steps to limit their environmental impact, but we expect industry to go further and will return to the issue if sufficient progress is not made.

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You can read more about the action we’re taking to cut plastic waste and increase recycling in Friday’s blog.

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