Aarhus, Denmark, has figured out how cities can tackle the negative impact of disposable coffee cup waste.
In January 2024, Aarhus launched a three-year pilot program to reduce amount of waste from single-use cups by offering residents a small refund for returning reusable cups via strategically placed automatic deposit machines around the city.
After just one year, the scheme has shown highly promising results, with over 735,000 cups returned - that would have filled thousands of large trash bins - and significant environmental benefits achieved.
The deposit machines accept reusable cups and issue refunds of five Danish crowns (approximately 70 euro cents) directly to users’ bank accounts. The goal? To shift consumer behavior away from disposable options and toward a circular economy - an approach that prioritizes reuse and recycling to minimize waste.
To encourage participation, the city partnered with 45 local cafes that agreed to offer reusable cups alongside traditional disposable ones. For reusable cups to outcompete single-use versions, they must be recycled at least six times, which requires an 82 percent return rate.
Happily, thanks to strongly promoting the scheme, Aarhus enjoyed a behaviour shift away from single-use cups, with current return rates of reusable cups reaching a remarkable 88 percent. Each cup is now reused an average of 44 times.
The program aims to collect 1.5 million cups annually by its third year, with plans to expand into neighbouring cities and additional packaging types, such as food containers. If implemented nationwide, the system could significantly cut Denmark’s annual consumption of 500 million single-use packaging items, greatly reducing the nation's environmental footprint.