7-Eleven has introduced a new takeaway cup recycling initiative to save 70 million takeaway cups from going to landfill.

A partnership with Simply Cups will see collection bins for takeaway coffee and Slurpee cups installed in more than 200 7-Eleven stores nationally and 50 other large-scale locations such as universities or construction sites from March 2018.

“As Australia’s second largest takeaway coffee destination we felt we had a responsibility to take the lead and find a solution to save cups from going to landfill,” 7-Eleven CEO Angus McKay said.

“In partnership with Simply Cups, 7-Eleven has developed a collection and recycling program for coffee and Slurpee cups to kick start the cup recycling revolution across Australia,” McKay stated.

“As the program scales up, 7-Eleven is committing to recycling 70 million cups a year, equivalent to the number we sell in-store,” he said.

But the initiative is not restricted to in-store purchases.

“It doesn’t matter where you purchase your drink, we want consumers to dispose of their cups in the 7-Eleven Simply Cups bin and be part of the cup recycling revolution,” McKay said.

More than one billion takeaway cups end up in landfill each year in Australia because there has been no effective way for plastic lined cups to be recycled.

“Simply Cups now has access to technology that removes the plastic lining from paper-based cups so that both materials can then be processed in regular paper and plastic recycling facilities,” explained Rob Pascoe, founder of Closed Loop’s Simply Cups.