SINGAPORE/LONDON — Passengers at London’s Gatwick Airport use 7 million disposable cups a year, and only 5.3 million of those are recycled.

In a bid to reduce the amount of waste generated at the airport, coffee chain Starbucks is offering travellers reusable cups which they can return before boarding their flights.

As part of the month-long trial, announced on Sunday (June 9), customers at Starbucks’ Gatwick South Terminal store can choose between a free reusable cup and a 5 pence (S$0.08) paper cup.

Those who opt for a reusable cup can return them at the store or any of five “Cup Check-In” points around the terminal.

The airport’s waste management team will collect the cups from the drop-off points, and wash and sterilise them before returning them to Starbucks for reuse.

Starbucks’ UK senior manager of energy and sustainability, Ms Jaz Rabadia, said the chain is “optimistic” that there will be enough return points for customers on the way to their gates, but also recognises “this might not for everyone”.

“Our goal is to save 7,000 disposable cups over the course of the month to find out the best ways to drive reuse where it is typically harder to do so — such as airports,” she added.

To achieve its goal, Starbucks said it would put 2,000 reusable cups into circulation at the terminal, and targets to have at least 250 customers a day opting to use them.

The airport is an ideal place for such a trial as it is a “closed loop environment”, said Mr Trewin Restorick, CEO of environmental charity Hubbub, which has partnered with Starbucks on its #cupcupandaway campaign.

“We know that people care about waste, but it’s often hard to ‘do the right thing’ when travelling. We want to find out whether people will get on board with reusing cups, if we make it easy and convenient,” said Mr Restorick.