‘Latte Levy’ Floated in U.K. to Cut Coffee Cup Waste

A 25 pence (34 U.S. cents) charge on disposable coffee cups should be introduced to encourage recycling and reduce waste from retailers including Starbucks Corp. and Costa Coffee Ltd., a panel of British lawmakers said.

Those revenues would be used to improve recycling facilities nationwide, Parliament’s cross-party Environmental Audit Committee said Jan. 5 in an emailed report. The government should also set a target to recycle all disposable coffee cups by 2023, and ban the cups if it fails to meet the goal, the panel said.

The U.K. generates 30,000 tons of coffee cup waste each year. Fewer than 1 ...