Joshua Parfitt
A CAFE on the Costa Blanca has become the ‘first in Spain’ to completely ban single-use takeaway cups.
Caffe Milano, in Javea, enforced the ban last month and now offers customers the choice to either buy or rent a reusable cup – or bring their own.
The cafe, which is Marina Alta’s only roastery, has reportedly saved 4,750 single-use cups from landfill after it first introduced reusable cups last July.
“We brought in compostable cups alongside reusable cups last year, but we weren’t still weren’t happy with it,” owner Matt Lewis, 38, told the Olive Press.
“I saw a picture someone posted complaining about a pile of rubbish in Javea, and one of my cups was in it – that made me very upset.”
Lewis, who runs Caffe Milano with his partner Federica Marconi, 38, from Milan, said he is the first in Spain to implement such a ban.
Caffe Milano has already gone through 750 reusable cups this month, which are sold for €6 a mug, or loaned for a deposit of the same price.
“I think other cafes are scared to lose business, but I’ve only lost one customer in three weeks, and that was only because she didn’t have the money on her,” Lewis said.
“It’s so easy though, everybody should be doing it.”
