Cardiff’s pioneering ‘Refill Return Cup’ scheme is celebrating a key milestone at four months in; since launch, the scheme has saved a whopping 8,000 cups from ending up in landfill. To celebrate, more than 20 participating businesses across the city will be offering 50 customers each a free coffee (or hot drink) of their choice.
The ‘Cardiff Refill Return Cup’ initiative, a first for Wales, enables customers to ‘borrow’ a reusable coffee cup from any participating venue and return it later to be washed and reused.
Participating venues in ‘Free Coffee Friday’ on 21st February (all will offer one free hot drink to the first 50 customers’ who order one in a Cardiff Refill Return Cup):
- Pettigrew Bakery (Castle Arcade, Roath, and Victoria Park)
- Pettigrew Tea Rooms (Bute Park)
- Da Coffi (One Central Square)
- Waterloo Tea (Wyndham Arcade)
- Bird & Blend (City Centre)
- Kin & Ilk (Brunel House, Capital Quarter, Pontcanna, and St David’s)
- Green Shoots Café (City Centre)
- Uncommon Ground (City Centre)
- Sherman Cymru (Cathays)
- Bae Coffi (within CAVC)
- Coffi Clwb (Jacobs Market, City Centre)
- Snails Deli (Rhiwbina)
- The Training Ground Cafe Project (Grangetown)
- Coffee Mania (within Techniquest, Cardiff Bay)
And this week, two new independent venues have joined the scheme;
- Tidy Kitchen (Museum Place, City Centre)
- Suburban Coffee Shop (Rhiwbina)
This Cardiff Refill Return Scheme, brought to life by FOR Cardiff with support from £90,000 in funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has been running as a pilot since October 2024. FOR Cardiff are working in partnership with the environmental not-for-profit City to Sea who developed the scheme to help tackle plastic pollution. Its impact will be evaluated by Cardiff Business School and Greenwich Business School, with the hope that it will serve as a blueprint for similar projects across the UK.
Chef Laura Willett, founder at Tidy Kitchen – one of the two new venues joining the scheme this week said, “As a business we are always looking at every way to improve and integrate sustainable practices and place them at the heart of what we do, so we jumped at the chance to be part of this scheme. It’s amazing to think that 8,000 single use cups have already been saved from ending up in landfill – we’re looking forward to encouraging our customers to use the scheme, and to saving a few hundred more!”
FOR Cardiff’s Executive Director, Carolyn Brownell, commented, “We’re incredibly excited to see the Cardiff Refill Return Cup pilot scheme going from strength to strength, and to be welcoming two new businesses to get involved and help make an even more positive impact.”
City to Sea’s Programme Lead, George Clark, commented: “‘It is with great pleasure that we celebrate the success of coffee shops and their customers in Cardiff in tackling waste generated by single-use coffee cups. Four months on from the launch of the Refill Return Cup scheme, thousands of cups have been prevented from littering the city’s parks, overflowing the bins or being sent to landfill. More people are bringing their own reusable cups, borrowing one of the Refill Return Cups or slowing down and enjoying their drink in a mug while catching up with friends.
We know that change can be difficult, especially with such an ingrained behaviour like grabbing a drink in a single-use cup, but Cardiff’s businesses and residents have risen to the challenge – and we expect other cities to follow in their footsteps.”
How the Cardiff Refill Return Cup Scheme works
- Customers download the Refill app and register their payment details (no fee is charged).
- They then show a QR code to their barista to borrow a reusable cup, free of charge.
- Customers return the cup to any participating location – all are visible on the Refill app.
- The Refill app also provides regular reminders, and customers are only charged a £3 fee if the cup is not returned within two weeks.
- The cup is washed and put back into circulation ready for the next customer to borrow.
