14 million individual cups per day, 5 billion cups per year, 130 times more reusable, loss rate of 12 %. Just some of the statistics that were mentioned by Safia Qureshi, Founder and CEO of CupClub during her talk that gave insight into how a simple idea can completely change , or even create new ecosystems, in this case, through the daily use of coffee.With the focus to reduce single-use plastic packaging, the value add approach by CupClub to waste reduction ensures plastic is used with complete efficiency built into their ecosystem.

Sure, we have all seen the articles about water being stored in thinner plastic bottles, but does that really have an impact ? can those engineered solutions actually impact CO2 reduction? ..These were some of the topics discussed of how an ecosystem designed to use eco friendly materials can promote the change that is needed.


Consumer habits were discussed, for example, the biggest example of overcoming consumer habits was seen when retailers began to charge for plastic bags, some consumers objected and carried items in their hands, others paid the minimum amount and some slowly started to take advantage of reusable bags i.e. buy it once and use it many times over based of its material quality. Should the price of a plastic bag now increase to discourage its use, the reusable option is more attractive the consumer. Overall, this re-usable approach is the foundation that CupClub serves.


Speaking with Safia, I asked specifically her thoughts on why the electronic industry does not have the same approach ? Or why e-waste does not reclaim gold, silver and other materials of computer parts. Perhaps this is another tech-disruption waiting to happen ? Could it be there is no incentive to engage current e-waste service efforts? is it impractical ? Does contamination of materials play a factor ? or is it simply that it is not promoted on a national level ?


If the numbers at the start of this blog post are appealing from a business perspective, then, national efforts could use the models discussed by CupClub to take better advantages of e-waste. Schools, Councils, Hospitals, Computer Data Centers, Small or Large businesses all have e-waste generated and a governing enterprise level approach that increases the adoption of default e-waste-as-a-service might help reduce the national carbon footprint. Free gold? Free Silver? If we can reuse wonky vegetables, I’m sure the nation can re-use free reclaimed gold or silver from e-waste products.


See Safia’s SKY News Interview here.

Details of the IET event can be found here.