The Latte Levy is One Step Closer to Happening

Watch Out Coffee Drinkers, The Latte Levy is Coming

If you’re one of those people who can’t go a day without stopping at a high street coffee shop, you might start feeling even more of an effect on your pocket. The ‘latte levy’ as it has been deemed in the houses of parliament, is one step closer to happening. If the £2.50+ you spend each time you purchase a coffee on the go isn’t already adding up, it soon will be.

There are already incentives in place to encourage people to bring their own cup for coffee. Big high-street chains and even smaller coffee houses offer cash discounts to those with reusable cups. Hopefully, this levy will provide the last push to ensure people go single-use plastic free. Well, at least when they’re drinking their coffee anyway…

Overwhelmingly backed by the public, the levy puts a charge on single-use coffee cups. If you still haven’t purchased a reusable cup, now’s the time, before you start seeing the pennies leaving your pocket. If you have a favourite coffee chain, why not ask about reusable cups, many have their own! Or, purchase one of our exclusive Billi cups.

Even better than that, why not make a coffee in the office using your Billi tap. Pop it in your Billi mug, and have fresh, piping hot coffee on the go while you head to meetings and errands. Both your pocket and the environment will thank you for choosing reusable!

For those who don’t know, the ‘latte levy’ is a 25p surcharge that will be added to the price of any coffees in a takeaway cup. Pushed for by ‘The Independent’ newspaper, the levy is backed widely by the public. This is one of the latest advances in the fight against single-use plastic.

As Greenpeace senior plastic pollution campaigner Louise Edge said,“People aren’t just getting angry, they’re getting active. And they’re demanding action from the government.”

Initially, it was thought that parliament would shy away from introducing such a measure. However, the latte levy seems to fit perfectly into the governments’ plans to tackle plastic waste. As a nation, we do love coffee, but it seems we are finally starting to love the environment more.

Disposable coffee cups are a massive problem.  There’s no denying it, and where better to start in the fight against plastic than straws, bottles and cups? When so many good alternatives are available, it just makes sense.

Overall, we throw away around 2.5 billion cups away every year. So, it makes sense that finally, parliament is listening to the public, and starting with something that may seem small, but will make a big difference.

We all know that coffee cups are just the tip of the iceberg. Plastic pollution is a far bigger problem than simply charging for cups. There will be some people that are willing to pay the extra surcharge simply for convenience, and the fact they don’t have to carry their own mug around. However, if it works, the surcharge will mean billions of fewer pieces of plastic in landfill sites or the ocean.