Low interest in Portlaoise eco friendly Coffee 2 Go scheme

Portlaoise people clearly love their coffee judging by the number of hipster coffee shops in the Laois county town, but not so much reusable cups offered by them.

A 2G Cup scheme launched in late 2022, failed to tickle local tastebuds, according to Laois County Council.

In the scheme, customers paid an extra €1 to ‘borrow’ the 2GoCup, refunded when they brought it back. They could also swap it for free for a similar cup at any of the six participating businesses.

Take-up levels of the green and brown cups still remain low, according to Suzanne Dempsey, Climate Action Officer.

"Laois County Council previously commenced a 2Go Cup (Deposit Return) Pilot whereby the Council provided 400 cups to 6 café-type businesses in Portlaoise. Take-up levels for the Scheme are low, to date," she reported in February at a meeting of Portlaoise Muncipal District. 

Pictured at the launch of the Laois Council Council /2GoCup environmental campaign in Portlaoise in November 2022, were: Pamela Tynan, Laois Co. Council, Cllr Thomasina Connell (Cathaoirleach ), Kevin Murphy (CEO 2GOCUP), Gerry Brown Chairperson, Portlaoise Tidy Towns, Patricia O'Rourke (Laois Co Council) and Representatives from participating Cafes The Pantry, Café Latte, The Bay Tree, Supervalu, Chocolate Brown and Square Coffee. Photo: Michael Scully 

Cllr Connell tabled a motion to the February 2024 meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District with a new idea.

"This the Municipal District introduce a Coffee Cup Deposit scheme in the designated Low Carbon Town of Portlaoise to eliminate single use takeaway coffee and tea cups.

"In doing so the Council must ensure that all coffee shops, cafes and hotels are contacted, and their agreement sought to work together in order to reduce the huge number of tonnes of rubbish from the local municipal waste network," she said.

She gave her opinion on why the reusable cup scheme was not a success.

"It was at the end of Covid. I think it was the wrong time. Six businesses were targeted but we didn't do great marketing," Cllr Connell said.

The Climate Action Officer said Portlaoise businesses are again to be approached.

"There is an upcoming event by Killarney Coffee Cup Project on the 22nd March. Cllr Connell has recently accepted an invitation to attend this event, along with Climate Action Co-Ordinator and Environmental Awareness Officer. It is hoped that they will use the learning from Killarney to approach businesses in Portlaoise as their support is crucial to the support of such an initiative," Ms Dempsey said in a reply to Cllr Connell's motion.

The 2Go scheme was launched in November 2022, when the Climate Action Officer described the impact that disposable cups have.

“Disposable coffee cups are a considerable source of litter that their volunteers of Portlaoise Tidy Towns pick up weekly. There are huge environmental consequences with this in terms of litter, waste and climate. I commend the six local businesses involved in the project who are leading the way in bringing about a local circular economy”.

The businesses who took part in the three-month pilot project were: The Pantry, Café Latte, The Bay Tree, Supervalu, Chocolate Brown and Square Coffee.

Portlaoise has several other coffee chain and fast food companies in the town that use disposable cups, with one recently installing a drive-thru. Many of the cardboard cups can be difficult to recycle as they are plastic coated, according to Repak.