MILAN – Killarney, in southwest Ireland’s County Kerry, is set to become the first Irish town to stop serving take-away coffee in single-use cups. Supported by 21 hotels and 25 local independent coffee shops, the Killarney Coffee Cup Project launched this week.
The initiative is expected to help remove over one million single-use coffee cups from the town annually, or 18.5 tonnes of waste. Participating businesses will take part in the initiative on a 12-month basis and will no longer offer single-use coffee cups starting from 31 July.
The participating coffee shops have also agreed to introduce a collective deposit system by partnering with 2GoCup. The partnership enables customers to purchase a reusable cup for a €2 deposit which is refundable when the cup is returned at any of the participating locations in Killarney or at 350 existing locations nationwide.
Killarney boasts Ireland’s highest per capita hotel bed night capacity and is renowned for the strength of its overseas tourism business, particularly its popularity on the North American market.
The decision to ban single-use cups was underpinned by complaints that some of Killarney’s most beloved beauty spots were being polluted on a weekly basis by dumped coffee cups and food wrappings.
In fact, recent clean-ups revealed that one of the most common forms of waste found in the Killarney National Park was single-use coffee cups.
Commenting on the move, Killian Treacy, owner of LUNA deli + wine, and spokesperson for the group, said: “We are already seeing a lot of customers bringing their reusable coffee cups into our shops and believe Killarney is ready for this change.
The decision has been taken for the collective good of the town by removing 18.5 tonnes of waste per year while also ensuring that the cost of takeaway coffee remains the same for our customers. We are really excited by this change and are proud that Killarney is leading the way with this important initiative”.
Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth TD, said: “It’s great to see the town of Killarney taking the initiative. Killarney’s economy is tied to its beautiful natural environment and this scheme will reduce litter, save money on disposable cups for the businesses and save the public from paying the cup levy.”
