If you’re a Costa coffee fan and you like doing your bit for the environment but don’t like carrying cash – then your prayers have been answered because you can now pay with your reusable cup.
Costa and Barclaycard have rolled out a new reusable cup that has contactless payment technology embedded in the design. Users can keep track of their spending using the bPay app and the cups can be used not just in Costa stores but anywhere where the contactless symbol is shown.
The cups are sold in packaging that is itself made from recycled coffee cups and they cost £14.99 a pop. The price might be steep – but Costa said it hoped the new cups would incentivise people to ditch disposables.
HuffPost UK recently reported that none of the major coffee chains’ Christmas cup designs are widely recyclable. According to recent estimates, billions of single use cups end up in landfill every year.
“Contactless technology has become increasingly prominent in our daily lives,” said Jason Cotta, managing director at Costa Coffee, adding that while the chain is committed to recovering and recycling more takeaway coffee cups, it also wants to appeal to “tech-savvy customers to help facilitate and drive environmentally friendly behaviour”.