Can you recycle disposable coffee cups?

Takeaway cups look like paper but are lined with polyethylene plastic, so almost no council accepts them in kerbside recycling — they need specialist mills. Return them to cup-collection points at Costa, McDonald's, Caffè Nero, Greggs and many others (the National Cup Recycling Scheme has a postcode finder). The plastic lid goes with your council's plastic rules; the cardboard sleeve is normal recycling.

Tips

• Use a reusable cup — most chains give a discount
• Recycle the cardboard sleeve separately
• An empty cup in your recycling bin is contamination, not recycling

Which bin does it go in?

In-store cup collection points — not your kerbside recycling

Background: The 10 recycling mistakes that ruin lorry-loads.

Also searched as: takeaway cups, paper cups, costa cups.