What is brummie cup?

brummie cup is a reusable takeaway cup that can be borrowed for a £2 refundable deposit.  It offers  people an environmentally friendly way to buy take-away drinks without the inconvenience of carrying around your own reusable cup.

What sizes do brummie cup come in?

There are two cup sizes.  A large for 14,12 and 10 fl oz drinks, and a medium for 8 and 6 fl oz drinks.

Why is brummie cup needed?

Every day in the UK, 7 million disposable coffee cups are used, typically for just 15 minutes each. Very few are recycled. Nearly all of them are incinerated, sent to landfill, or littered.

Why is brummie cup so good?

brummie cup is a strong, light-weight, reusable cup designed to keep drinks warm and hands safe.  Each cup can be used hundreds of times. 

Once used four times, each brummie cup has a lower carbon footprint than a typical disposable cup.  Over a year brummie cups create 95% less carbon than disposables. 

Switching to brummie cup means fewer overflowing bins and less litter in our community.

How does the deposit work?

Pay a £2 refundable deposit when you order your drink.  As long as the cup isn’t damaged, return the cup (no receipt needed) to any participating café for a full deposit refund.  Alternatively swap the used cup for a clean one when you next want a takeaway drink.

Where can I return my brummie cup?

brummie cup can be returned to any participating café or return point.  Click on "Find a café" to get an up to date list of our participating café and return points.  Cafés will wash the cup ready for reuse.

Are brummie cup on social media?

Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the handle @brummiecup.  Please post pictures of yourself with a brummie cup to spread the word.

Aren’t compostable cups better?

Compostable cups are still single use.  Unfortunately, they require specialist facilities to rot down.  Like normal disposable cups, few are recycled so end up being binned or littered. 

brummie cup is made of plastic (100% polypropylene), but it can be used hundreds of times so it is not single use.  At the end of its life brummie cup can be fully recycled.

Are brummie cups for sale?

No.  brummie cups should be used as many times as possible to give the biggest environmental benefit, which will only be achieved if they are borrowed and returned each time.

What about reusable lids?

Reusable lids are not available with brummie cup at present.  Please use a disposable lid, opt for no lid, or reuse a lid you have saved from a previous drink.

Where are brummie cups made?

Orange, pink and green cups are manufactured in the UK; and blue and cream cups in Belgium.