New children's book published on paper made from recycled cups

Blending imagination with innovation, Little Coffee Cup and the Big Surprise is a heartwarming tale that introduces young readers to Little Coffee Cup, a spirited character who leaves the comfort of a café to discover the big, wide world. But beneath the playful storyline lies a bigger purpose: to spark conversations about waste, reuse and the circular economy, one cup at a time. With the planet heating up at prodigious rates and plastic waste finding its way to every corner of the globe, it is never too early to get children to realise the importance of protecting the planet.

And James Cropper is the man we have to thank for recycling coffee cups and turning them into paper. His venture CupCycling has so far diverted 58 million discarded drinks cups from landfill and that number will only increase.

The book's release is particularly timely, following the UK government's recent decision to scrap a proposed mandatory takeback scheme for disposable cups, citing limited environmental benefit and high cost to industry. According to WRAP, the environmental action NGO, an estimated 3.2 billion single-use cups are used annually in the UK, a stark reminder of the scale of the challenge.

Importantly, sufficient processing capacity already exists to recycle this volume of cups, highlighting that the key barrier lies in collection and participation. In this context, programmes like CupCycling® play a crucial role in turning waste into opportunity by efficiently gathering and upcycling used cups into valuable paper products.