After a successful trial, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire is expanding its returnable cup initiative to the entire site.
The pilot programme took place last year in Blenheim Palace’s Walled Garden. When it launches across the visitor attraction later this month, the reusable cup project will prevent the disposal of 400,000 single-use coffee cups.
It will also will significantly reduce the palace’s annual carbon footprint – equivalent to around 30 tonnes of CO2e, which is comparable to the annual emissions of 19 petrol cars.
Reducing the palace’s carbon footprint
Blenheim Palace has partnered with re-universe and Circular & Co to combine the £2 deposit and tracking technology with a returnable cup, the palace said in a press release.
Once visitors have finished their drink, they can return their cup to one of the on-site return points, and scan a QR code for a refund. Alternatively, they can transfer their deposit to Blenheim’s charity of the year, Yellow Submarine.
David Green, Blenheim’s head of innovation, said: “The returnable cup scheme will eradicate single-use coffee cups on the estate by using deposit return technology.
“We believe climate change is the single biggest threat to Blenheim’s long-term survival and we’re committed to doing all we can to reduce and mitigate its impacts and help safeguard this World Heritage Site and its resources for future generations.”
Blenheim Palace is leading the way in the attractions industry when it comes to green initiatives. The attraction aims to become carbon neutral by 2027, and to sequester more than 200,000 tonnes of CO2e by 2050.
Last year, Blenheim teamed up with the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI) and Oxford Biology to test a robot dog monitoring the impact of climate change across the estate.
Dominic Hare, CEO of Blenheim Palace, recently spoke to blooloop about green guest journeys.
Images courtesy of Blenheim Palace
