SINGLE-USE cups may incur a 25p charge in future under plans being considered by the Scottish Government.
Ministers have opened a consultation on the proposed scheme, which is being weighed up as a means of reducing litter and helping the environment.
The charge would apply to all single-use drink cups, regardless of material, meaning it would not only cover plastic cups.
The Scottish Government highlighted similar schemes in place in Europe, including in the Netherlands where people have been charged 25 cents on disposable plastic cups since last year.
There would be exemptions for schools and for watercoolers or other free drinks given in hospitals and other health and social care centres.
It is estimated that around 388 million single-use cups were used in Scotland in 2021-22 creating 5400 tonnes of waste, according to the Scottish Government.
The consultation will allow the public and civil society organisations to give their views on the proposals, which would allow retailers to retain a “reasonable” amount raised by the charge for “implementation costs”, as is the case with charging for plastic bags.
It will also seek views on whether money collected from the charge should be kept by businesses, donated to charity or collected by the state.
Ministers believe that introducing a single-use cup charge will reduce the amount used as happened when businesses began charging for plastic bags.
They said that plastic bag use fell by 80% in Scotland after the charge was introduced in 2014 and the Marine Conservation society annual litter survey has reported an 80% drop in plastic bags found on UK beaches since its implementation.
Acting Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin said: “The success of the single-use carrier bag charge shows how an environmental charge can be an effective tool to change people’s behaviour and encourage responsible consumption.
“While many businesses already have offers in place to encourage the use of reusable drinks cups, hundreds of millions of single-use cups are still being discarded, creating 5400 tonnes of waste every year. Many of these cups end up littering our roadsides, town centres, beaches and parks.
“Introducing a national charge could provide consistency for consumers, provide a level playing field for retail and businesses and help to drive forward sustainable behaviours. Our proposed approach is similar to the charge for single-use carrier bags and will be familiar to both suppliers and the public. We hope this means that it will minimise any administrative burden on businesses and make it easy for individuals and organisations to adopt.”
Calum Duncan, head of policy and advocacy at the Marine Conservation Society, said: "Our volunteers have consistently recorded single-use disposable cups on over half of UK beaches surveyed. We need to see charges on these kinds of items to reduce litter in our seas and prevent it from damaging our precious marine life.
“We know that policies like this work, with our data recently showing an 80% reduction in the average number of plastic carrier bags washing up on beaches since charges on them were introduced.
“We look forward to a similar decline in disposable cups once a charge is introduced, and need further measures from governments to move towards a society where refillable and reusable options are the norm."
