Remember the avalanche of adverts for the YorCup recycling scheme a few years ago, that over 12,000 students joined (probably including those who lost their band)?
The idea was simple. Pay £5 for a green band that you hand in if you purchase a hot drink at a university catering outlet, and get your first drink free. Hand in the cup – without the band – at an outlet and get rid of those annoying coffee dregs, while also avoiding the dreaded “latte levy”, a 20p – now 50p – charge for a disposable cup.
It has been successful: the cups’ manufacturer, Ecups, boasts of slashing savage single-use cups by 1 million (now 2 million), and saving the University £250,000 on disposable duds. Yet the hot drinks levy still left students cold: at least one candidate in last year’s SU elections promised to find where all the money went, with suspicion swirling around how quickly the money was burnt, just like your tongue after that cheeky cappuccino.
The Uni claimed part of the money paid for new YorCup bins (if you know where, correspondence to the usual address). But some catering staff complained of the obnoxious odour stemming from someone’s previous dregs doomed to the depths of the grey cup. The precious final few were removed last year.
Students returning after the Christmas break might have taken note of a tactic to bring back the brand of YorCup bands. Those slippery sleeves have returned in a design competition between each of the catering outlets. Those ordering coffee could vote for their favourite display using a QR code.
Just to sweeten the deal, catering outlets now offer a 20p discount when ordering with a YorCup, as well as avoiding the latte levy, in case the plea to stop using disposable cups wasn’t obvious already. It remains to be seen whether this new drive leads to new interest.