Media Release
9 November, 2020
This National Recycling Week, schools across the country pledge to join the #cuprescue
To mark this year’s National Recycling Week, 7-Eleven have announced the launch of its Cup Rescue Schools Program. The program will see infrastructure placed into 100 schools over the next financial year to allow for greater recycling efforts across the country.
While takeaway cups can’t usually be recycled due to their plastic coating, 7-Eleven’s partnership with recycling solution company Simply Cups, enables takeaway cups of any brand to be collected, processed, and recycled. Now thanks to 7-Eleven, schools can join in too.
All collected cups at the school grounds – through the donated cup collection units – are delivered back to the schools’ local 7-Eleven store for collection by Simply Cups. Once collected, innovative new technologies transform the cups into upcycled items, such as kerbing, car stops, and garden beds, which are all made locally in Australia.
Each year, it’s estimated that over 1 billion cups end up in landfill when they could have been recycled. 7-Eleven and Simply Cups’ goal is to recycle 100 million cups via the initiative, to help promote Australia’s push for a circular economy.
The cup rescue journey started in 7-Eleven stores across the country, with over 630 Cup Rescue units deployed in 7-Eleven stores since 2018. Both organisations are now working to grow the program even further by calling on local schools and young eco-warriors to help fight landfill within their local communities.
Chief Executive Officer at 7-Eleven, Angus McKay said, “We’re one of Australia’s leading coffee retailers, and we acknowledge that the amount of coffees we sell is contributing to the number of cups going into landfill. We partnered with Simply Cups in 2018 to take the lead on this issue in Australia and be part of the solution to make take-away cups recyclable. We believe engaging young Australians – who are passionate drivers of change – will enable us to achieve our goal of diverting as many cups as possible from landfill.”
Rob Pascoe, Managing Director at Closed Loop, “More than 14 million cups have been rescued from landfill so far. Stacked end-to-end, these cups would stretch the distance of Brisbane to Melbourne!”
“Educating Australians how to better recycle has always been one of the industry’s biggest challenges, and many today do not know coffee cups can be recycled. We aim to make sure young Australia’s have a better understanding so they can lead Australia towards a more sustainable future.”
To date, seven schools engaged in the 7-Eleven Cup Rescue Schools Program, including St Joseph’s Catholic College (NSW), Mt Maria College (QLD), Toorak College (VIC) and Glendale Technology High School (NSW), with nine more set to have cup recycling units installed next month.”
For more information on 7-Eleven’s Cup Rescue Schools Program and to find out how to sign up your school, head to simplycups.com.au/schools
Source: Altshift.
