AUSSIES love their coffee but we could be paying a high price for our addiction.
Disposable coffee cups look like they are made of paper and biodegradable but they actually contain a thin plastic lining that takes a long time to break up and ends up in landfill.
Coffee cups are now estimated to be the second-biggest contributor to litter waste after plastic bottles.
According to 7.30, Australians use one billion disposable coffee cups each year and up to 90 per cent could end up in landfill — contributing about 60,000kg of plastic waste every year.
Even cups which are labelled “recyclable” may not be reprocessed as local councils have different standards for recycling.
“Even though the paper will degrade and become inert the plastic will stick around for a really long time. I don’t think anyone really realises this,” environmentalist Tim Silverwood told 7.30.
While there are options for biodegradable coffee cups, many cafes chose not to use them as they are more expensive.
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson is heading an inquiry into plastics and said the ocean was turning into a “plastic soup”.
“Given the ocean is the source of all life on this planet, we are going to end up choking,” he told 7.30.
Senator Whish-Wilson said consumers should limit their use of plastic, re-use these products as much as possible and also look to producers to redesign them.
Consumers are being encouraged to bring their own reusable cup, not to take a plastic lid if they don’t need one, or drink the coffee at the cafe from a ceramic cup.
“You can slow down and drink your coffee in — you earnt that coffee, enjoy it,” Mr Silverwood said.
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