Coffee cup refunds are on the table and the City wants to know what you think

Download the consultation paper 

The City of Vancouver is aiming to decrease coffee cup and other waste by 50% in five years, and wants Vancouver residents, businesses and organizations to weigh in on whether they would be open to a coffee cup refund system, among other options, to help get there.

As a part of their Single Use Item Reduction Strategy, the City released a consultation paper that explains an estimated 2.6 million hot and cold paper beverage cups are disposed of as garbage each week in Vancouver.

A coffee cup refund system, whereby consumers would pay a deposit that will be refunded when the cup is returned for recycling, is one of the proposed solutions to this waste problem. 

Binners, people who supplement their income looking for refundable recyclables, have been saying for years that they would welcome the light-weight addition to their trips to the bottle depot.

The City is asking for your feedback by December 15th on how to move forward with reducing single-use items in Vancouver landfills. According to the website, here’s how you can contribute to the process:

• By email to [email protected]  
• Through the online comment form 
• By mail to:

               City of Vancouver – Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy Consultation 
               453 West 12th Avenue
               Vancouver, BC 
               V5Y 1V4  

Additionally, the City will host a series of roundtable discussions in the fall with interested stakeholders. These meetings will review the information contained in the consultation paper. 

If you are interested in participating in a meeting, please email the City at: [email protected] 

Although a refund system is ultimately a decision made by the Provincial Government, without the City's support it is unlikely to gain the momentum it needs to become a reality. As such, we encourage everyone to provide their feedback to the City. 

Lastly, stay engaged with the conversation around a refund system for coffee cups by attending the Coffee Cup Revolution in Victory Square Park on October 16th - click here to register and to find out more about the event.