Why Ireland Needs the Disposable Cup Levy, and Why We Need You to Speak Up Now
How often do you see a discarded coffee cup or lid on the side of the road, in a hedge, or overflowing from a public bin? Once you start noticing them, you can't unsee them - they are everywhere. Despite the popularity of the “bring your own cup” initiative, disposable coffee cups remain a common and frustrating sight in our towns and villages.
Ireland has a unique coffee culture. Unlike many of our European neighbours, we often take our hot drinks to go, rather than sitting in. This has made both consumers and cafés heavily reliant on disposable cups. It’s understandable - they are super convenient. But that convenience comes at a significant environmental cost. There is good news. This waste IS avoidable, as projects across the country have shown. However, we can not keep creating this mountain of waste, especcailly when it is avaoidable. We need government support to help shift us away from the disposable culture we’ve come to depend on.
The problem with disposables
In Ireland, we use over 200 million single-use coffee cups every year, most of which cannot be recycled and end up as litter or waste.
Despite growing awareness of the environmental and health impacts of single-use packaging, Ireland remains overly reliant on disposables. Coffee cups and lids are one of the most visible and unnecessary waste streams we have, and one of the easiest to prevent.
For more than a decade, VOICE has worked to reduce Ireland’s dependence on single-use packaging and to challenge the idea that packaging is disposable by default. The humble coffee cup became a natural starting point for us: a simple, everyday item where reuse can, and should, be the norm. If we can normalise reusable cups, we can start wider conversations about takeaway containers, food packaging, and how much waste we really need to accept.
Why this matters
This week, together with the Killarney Coffee Cup Project, and in response to the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) report, VOICE is once again calling on the Irish Government to introduce the long-promised levy on disposable cups, as committed to in the Circular Economy Act 2022.
The IBAL report makes the contrast stark. While Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme has reduced plastic bottles and cans in litter by 60%, coffee cups remain one of the most commonly found litter items, appearing in one in five sites surveyed. IBAL has also warned that reuse schemes in towns such as Killarney are at risk of collapse without statutory backing. Voluntary systems, no matter how well designed, cannot survive indefinitely without government support.
Projects like the Killarney Coffee Cup Project, which helped make Killarney Ireland’s first coffee-cup-free town, were built on the promise that this levy would be introduced. Similar initiatives in Fingal, Trim, Wicklow and elsewhere are now on shaky ground as businesses pull out and momentum is lost, not because reuse doesn’t work, but because the policy support never arrived.
The disposable cup levy is not about punishment. It is about changing norms, just like the plastic bag levy did. People bring their own bags now, and the same can be true for coffee cups. A levy on disposable cups, at the point of sale, will encourage customers to choose a reusable option, and will encourage businesses to have a reusable option in place.
A levy on cups could also be ringfenced to invest in national reuse infrastructure, making it easier for cafés, businesses and customers to choose reuse.
We need your help
The government promised this levy in 2022. On the back of the latest litter data, it is clear that further delay is undermining reuse projects and locking Ireland into unnecessary waste.
We are asking you to email your local TDs this week and urge them to honour the commitment made in the Circular Economy Act by introducing the disposable cup levy without further delay.
A short email can make a real difference. Tell your TD you support reuse. Tell them you want cleaner streets and less waste in your community. Tell them it’s time to follow through on what was promised.
👉 Find your local TD and send an email today (click on this link to find your local T.D's)
Copy and paste this sample email:
Subject: Please introduce the disposable coffee cup levy as promised
Dear [Deputy’s Name],
I am writing to you as a constituent to ask that you support the urgent introduction of the disposable coffee cup levy, as promised in the Circular Economy Act 2022.
Ireland continues to rely far too heavily on single-use packaging, and disposable coffee cups remain one of the most visible and unnecessary forms of litter in our towns and communities. The latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) report shows that while measures like the Deposit Return Scheme are working, coffee cups are still among the most commonly found litter items.
The levy on disposable cups was intended to work in the same way as the plastic bag levy, at the point of sale; a simple, proven measure that encourages reuse without penalising consumers. Community-led reuse initiatives, such as the Killarney Coffee Cup Project and others around the country, were developed in good faith on the understanding that this levy would be introduced. Continued delays are now undermining these projects and risking their collapse.
I strongly believe that introducing the disposable cup levy would reduce litter, save resources, and support Ireland’s transition to a circular economy. I urge you to honour the commitment made in 2022 and ensure the levy is brought in, as promised, without further delay.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing your views on this issue.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Town / Constituency]
