Blackpool Vic to take action after figures show trust bought six million throwaway cups

As part of a campaign to reduce the use of plastic, Blackpool Victoria Hospital is trialling a variety of paper cups and utensils in the restaurant. Pictured with some of the items on trial are L-R: Michelle Harrison, Tracy Dewhurst and Maxine Duffy. PIC BY ROB LOCK 12-4-2018

Bosses said they take the environmental impact of single-use plastic ‘very seriously’ and will work with Costa Coffee – which has a branch inside the main entrance – to recycle as much as possible.

It comes after figures showed Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust bought 5,876,475 disposable cups between 2013-17.

In a statement, it said: “The trust is working with Costa to install cup banks and signage at points around our Victoria Hospital site in the next few weeks.

“As an organisation we operates a zero to landfill policy and segregate paper and plastic cups into a mixed recycling stream which is forwarded to a recycling plant in Lancashire.

“If material cannot be recycled then it goes to an ‘Energy from Waste’ facility to produce electricity.

“We are currently looking at more environmentally friendly cups and disposable containers to see if we can further reduce the amount of plastic we use.”

The pledge comes as The Gazette campaigns to get 200 businesses to back LOVEmyBEACH’s ReFILL campaign by offering free tap water to people with reusable drinks containers.

The project aims to tackle the number of plastic bottles washing up on our coastline by encouraging firms to display a blue sticker in their windows welcoming passers-by inside.

The Gazette is recruiting 200 local businesses to the ReFILL campaign.

Get involved by emailing [email protected] with the subject header ‘ReFILL’, or call (01253) 361726.

A blue sticker inviting people in for ‘free tap water available here’ will be posted out, and your details will be added to the ReFILL smartphone app for people to find.