A NEW coffee cup recycling scheme has been launched in Teignbridge.

Teignbridge Council, in partnership with the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK), is launching a new recycling service for plastic-lined paper cups.

As of this month people can recycle their used cups alongside food and drink cartons at specialist recycling banks across the district.

The recycling banks will accept paper cups which are used for hot drinks such as tea and coffee in high street coffee shops, fast food outlets and supermarkets.

The banks can be found at Sandy Lane car park, Dawlish; B&Q car park, Newton Abbot; Eastcliffe car park, Teignmouth; Co-Op car park, Trago Mills; and Brunel Road recycling centre in Newton Abbot.

The new service is the result of an agreement between ACE UK, which operates the food and drink carton recycling service available in Teignbridge, and high street retailers and cup manufacturers.

The agreement was set up to give more people access to recycling the cups through the carton recycling bank service. Cups are made from similar materials to food and drink cartons and will be recycled using the same process, at ACE UK’s recycling facility in Halifax.

Cllr Kevin Lake, Teignbridge Council’s executive for environment services, said: ‘Previously coffee cups could not be recycled through our council waste collections but with their growing use we were keen to take the opportunity to include them.

‘Our residents have always responded well to the different recycling schemes we’ve implemented, and we hope they will take full advantage of this new service.

‘This new opportunity highlights our ongoing commitment to further increase our recycling rates, creating a clean and green district for our residents.’