Cup Movement Project to Reduce Landfill & Litter in Scotland : Glasgow Shopping Centres Back Initiative to Tackle Single Use Cup Waste
In Scotland two of Glasgow’s largest shopping centres, Glasgow Fort and Buchanan Galleries, have confirmed that they are supporting Cup Movement® to prevent single-use cups going to landfill or ending up as litter.
The Cup Movement initiative has been developed by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful in response to growing public concern about the environmental impact of single-use items.
With an estimated 95 million single-use cups being used in the Greater Glasgow area every year, the Cup Movement project aims to tackle this issue head on by transforming recycling infrastructure and encouraging people to adopt more sustainable behaviours.
Both Glasgow Fort and Buchanan Galleries are backing Cup Movement with opportunities for both customers and retailers to take part. In addition, both are signing up to Cup Movement’s recycling service, provided in collaboration with Simply Cups, which will divert millions of cups from their bins and instead transform them into second-life materials.
Cup Movement said that its aim is to reduce single-use cup waste, by transforming recycling infrastructure, working with partners to install convenient recycling and cup collection points across the city and targeting the city’s thousands of regular cup users to make more sustainable choices.
By working with member organisations of all sizes and types across the city, the initiative will bring together stakeholders to engage with the public to:
Educate, inspire and empower people to change their littering, recycling and reuse behaviours
Gather robust evidence to inform policy and create a model of best practice that can be replicated in other major cities
Contribute to Scottish Government circular economy ambitions
It will be the largest, sustained, cup waste reduction initiative of its kind in Scotland and, if successful, the model could be rolled out across many more cities in the UK.
Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment:
“It’s fantastic to see two leading Glasgow retail operators standing up and taking positive action on the issue of single-use cups. A number of retailers are already supporting Cup Movement in Glasgow and I hope that many other businesses will follow their example.”
Phil Goodman, Centre Director at Glasgow Fort:
“With almost 100 outlets, Glasgow Fort welcomes more than 40,000 visitors every day. This is an opportunity to make a big impact, both by engaging more people to make more sustainable choices and by providing an effective solution that will significantly reduce our own waste footprint.
“Involvement in Cup Movement forms part of our centre’s wider sustainability goals and we are delighted to be playing our part and supporting Glasgow and Keep Scotland Beautiful in this mission.”
Kathy Murdoch, Centre Manager at Buchanan Galleries:
“We are really pleased to be a part of Cup Movement. As a busy shopping centre in the heart of the city, we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and are always looking for new measures to reduce our own waste and that of our customers.”
Derek Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of Keep Scotland Beautiful:
“We are delighted to welcome Glasgow Fort and Buchanan Galleries on board as supporters of Cup Movement in Glasgow. We look forward to working with both of the centres, alongside our other partners, to deliver transformational change across the city.
“Cup Movement will bring Glasgow’s people together to reduce the amount of single-use cups that end up in landfill or as litter, by reducing their use through reuse and by ensuring that they get recycled as much as possible. Everyone has the opportunity to be part of this positive movement for change.”
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