Brewing Better: BorrowCup at GCF25
At GCF25 thousands of coffees were enjoyed… and not a single cup went to landfill.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, and in 2025, we proudly continued that mission. Glasgow Coffee Festival was honoured to be named Best Sustainable Event in Scotland, officially became a certified B Corp, and joined the 1% for the Planet movement - phew!
🚫 No Disposable Cups. No Problem.
We’ve been proudly single-use cup free since 2018, and this year, we teamed up with BorrowCup to continue our commitment.
Led by Hubbub and reuse startup Reposit, BorrowCup launched the UK’s first returnable cup scheme across 40+ locations in Glasgow for a three-month trial and we were thrilled to be part of it.
Why does this matter?
📊 Research by Hubbub shows that while nearly 75% of UK residents own a reusable cup, only one-third use it at least once a month.
🚯 According to Zero Waste Scotland, 388 million disposable cups are placed on the Scottish market every year.
This trial was an important step toward changing that.
☕ How It Worked
Festival goers picked up a reusable cup on entry with a £1 deposit
They enjoyed a coffee (or many coffees) at the festival, using our rinsing stations between pours.
Finally, they then returned the cup to BorrowCup drop-off points before leaving
Simple. Smart. Sustainable.
The BorrowCup team were on-site all weekend to support, educate, and make reuse as easy as possible.
💚 A Community Effort
We’re incredibly grateful to the hundreds of attendees who embraced BorrowCup with enthusiasm. Thanks to you, we’ve taken another step toward keeping Glasgow Coffee Festival the most sustainable event in Scotland.
