TransPennine Express (TPE) has installed new recycling bins, specifically for single-use coffee cups, at three of its stations.

TPE, which will return to public ownership at the end of May, has introduced the bins at Cleethorpes, Hull and Scarborough stations, as part of a trial to improve recycling. If successful, the trial may lead to the bins being installed at more stations on the TPE network in the future.

Each bin is made up of three tubes, one for lids, one for cups and a third for any liquids. The cups that are collected will be recycled into new products.

The tube bins are located in easy-to-access locations on each station:

• Hull – outside the waiting room on platform 3
• Scarborough – by the bike racks on platform 3
• Cleethorpes – on the concourse between platforms 1 and 2.

Last year, TPE collected and recycled 221 tonnes of waste. It has increased its recycling rate from just over a third (36 per cent) to nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) in recent years. None of its waste is sent to landfill.

The company has worked with waste solution business, co-cre8, to produce the recycling bins, which it hopes will increase its recycling rate further still.

The last year has seen several train operators take new initiatives to increase recycling and reduce waste, including: Northern trialling a new system for sorting waste at Bradford Interchange; free water refills at Greater Anglia’s South Woodham Ferrers station in Essex; and Govia Thameslink Railway recycling its staff’s tablet computers for use by schoolchildren in Malawi.

Nicola Martin, Head of Sustainability for TransPennine Express, said: “TPE are committed to providing our customers with a more sustainable service.  The new coffee cup bins will make it easier for our customers to recycle their waste.

“Single-use coffee cups are one of our biggest forms of customer waste we collect, and it can be extremely difficult to recover these materials from waste bins, making material recovery options limited.

“Most coffee cups are coated in plastic, with only a few specialist facilities able to process and recover the materials, meaning most cups end up at an incinerator.

“TPE is delighted to provide designated coffee cup waste recycling bins to help recover more cups through recycling routes. We are committed to providing more ways for customers to travel sustainably.”

Peter Goodwin, Managing Director and co-founder of co-cre8, said “With hot beverage cups now one of the fastest growing waste streams, progressive businesses need solutions to effectively separate them from other materials so that they can be properly recycled.

“Our range of Cup Collection Stations are not only Department for Transport (DFT) approved, but have also been proven to be both practical and durable in transport hub environments. These have also been designed with consumer engagement in mind and so we’re delighted to be helping TransPennine Express provide its customers with new ways to become more sustainable”