The UK's largest coffee retailer¹, Costa Coffee, has committed to recycling half a billion coffee cups a year by 2020 in a landmark² act to tackle plastic waste.

英国最大的咖啡零售商Costa承诺将在2020年之前，每年回收5亿咖啡杯，以此应对塑料浪费问题。

The pledge, which amounts to recycling the same volume of cups it puts onto the market, would take a significant chunk³ out of the 2.5 billion takeaway cups thrown away across the country every year.

这个承诺相当于回收Costa每年投入市场的所有杯子，每年有25亿杯子用于外带，最后被丢失在英国各个角落，5亿占了相当大的比例。

Despite often being marked as recyclable, the vast majority of paper coffee cups end up on landfill or being incinerated due to the plastic lining⁴ used to make them waterproof⁵.

虽然咖啡纸杯有可回收的美誉，但是大部分还是被丢弃在垃圾场，或者因为上面的防水塑料被焚烧。

By paying waste collectors to take coffee cups to specialist facilities, Costa hopes to massively increase the rate at which cups are recycled.

Costa会给环保工人付费，请他们把咖啡杯带到指定场所，希望能以此增加回收率。

Ultimately, all a customer will need to do to ensure their cup avoids landfill is throw it into a standard recycling bin⁶.

消费者需要做的就是避免杯子进入垃圾场，只要把它们扔进可回收垃圾箱就好。

The move is the most ambitious so far by a major coffee chain since the start of The Independent’s Cut the Cup Waste campaign.

这场运动是继“The Independent’s Cut the Cup Waste（独立报减少纸杯浪费）”运动后，规模最大的咖啡产业环保行动。

Launched following the Environmental Audit⁷ Committee’s report recommending ministers take drastic action to tackle coffee cup waste, the campaign has pushed for action from governments and businesses and promoted potential solutions.

环境审查委员会发布了报告，建议各部门部长采取大规模行动，遏制咖啡杯浪费，由此发起了这场运动，从政界到商界都在行动，各种办法纷纷涌现。

“The Independent’s campaign has highlighted the importance of finding a solution to this issue,” Costa managing director Dominic Paul told The Independent.

Costa的管理总监多米科·保罗（Dominic Paul）告诉《独立报》：“你们的运动使寻找解决方法的重要性更加突出。”

Starbucks has pledged £7m to develop a “fully recyclable cup” following pressure from campaigners, while Waitrose has pledged to phase out disposable coffee cups from its stores by autumn.

星巴克碍于运动参与者的压力，也承诺会投入7百万英镑研发“可回收咖啡杯”，Waitrose超市表示会在秋季前清除所有一次性咖啡杯。

The company has entered into a partnership⁸ with five national waste collectors – Veolia, Biffa, Suez, Grundon and First Mile – that between them cover public spaces across the UK including hospitals, universities and transport hubs.

Costa也和五个国家级垃圾回收站进行了合作（分别是：Veolia, Biffa, Suez, Grundon 和 First Mile），这五个回收站覆盖了英国的公共场所，其中有医院、大学、和交通枢纽。

The coffee giant is also working with paper mills to ensure their products are recycled effectively. James Cropper, for example, has plans to “upcycle” 500 million cups a year to create plastic-free packaging.

Costa也和纸厂有所联系，确保产品能有效回收。纸厂James Cropper就计划每年“废弃”5亿杯子，用来做无塑料包装盒。

By building more partnerships⁹ with waste contractors¹⁰ in every region, Costa intends to hit its half a billion mark within two years.

Costa正在和各个地区多个垃圾承包商建立合作，意在两年内达成5亿的目标。

With one report predicting the number of takeaway drink cups thrown away in the UK is set to rise by a third by 2030, and the government recently failing to back a “latte levy¹¹” to discourage cup use, it falls to businesses to act on the huge amount of waste from their products.

有报告预测，英国外带咖啡杯的废弃辆将在2030年增加三分之一，近日，英国政府的“拿铁税”征收失败，原本意在鼓励大家不要用咖啡杯，现在只能靠商界行动，限制产品浪费量了。

Commenting on the announcement Environment Minister Therese Coffey, said: “Congratulations Costa on taking this significant step to help coffee lovers do the right thing and increase recycling. We all have a responsibility to our environment and this is a significant step by a British business which should dramatically increase the number of disposable coffee cups we recycle in this country.

环境署署长特锐斯·科菲（Therese Coffey）在声明中说：“恭喜Costa做出这项重大决定，帮助咖啡爱好者矫正行为，也促进了环保。环境维护人人有责，这也是英国商界迈出的一大步，一次性纸杯的回收量将大大提升。”

“We want to help companies become plastic free and through our 25 Year Environment Plan we are putting in place the ambitions to encourage all of us to play our part in ending the scourge¹² of plastic waste in our natural environment.”

“我们希望能帮助企业逐渐消灭塑料，通过《25年环境计划》，激励大家终结大自然中的塑料污染。”