Plans to force cafe bosses to recycle throwaway paper cups are dropped by Government despite disposables generating more than 35,000 tons of waste each year

Plans to force cafe bosses to recycle disposable cups have been quietly dropped.

Under a Government move originally due to come in this year every coffee shop with more than ten employees faced having to accept used paper cups from customers.

More than 3 billion throwaway paper cups – 35,300 tons of waste – are disposed of each year, much as landfill or going to incineration.  

Industry analysis shows that just 2.8 per cent of cups are recycled.

Due to nearly all of the cups used by cafes and fast-food retailers having plastic linings, they cannot be recycled with other paper waste and require specialist disposal. 

The Daily Mail was at the forefront of attempts to get the outlets to take back their waste with our Curb The Cups campaign, along with chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. 

The Government said shops would 'be required to provide a dedicated bin for the separate collection of cups from 2024'.

The scheme was then delayed until 2025 to enable 'cup sellers to prepare for the introduction of the regulations'. 

Now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has dropped the plans because it needs 'further time for stakeholder engagement'. 

John Read, of the Clean Up Britain campaign, said: 'It's a shame it's been scrapped because it would have probably helped recycling rates.'