South Korean chains to save 21 million paper cups in switching to mugs

Around 900 shops of three major coffee chains in South Korea will only serve coffee inside their coffee houses in paper cups as of 1 August, according to the Asia News Network. Reports from the Environment Ministry say that Hollys Coffee, Caffe bene and Angel-in-us Coffee will begin using only mugs inside the store until 2012. This is expected to save a total of around US$2.8 million in cutting the number of paper cups used by 21 million. Hollys Coffee pledged to only use mugs in around 300 franchises, while Caffe bene said it would use mugs in 314 shops. Angel-in-us Coffee promised a similar policy in 52 shops starting 1 August. The companies are adapting different policies to limit the amount of cups used. Hollys Coffee said it would provide a 10 per cent discount while Caffee bene will charge per cup and Angel-in-us Coffee will offer a second free cup of coffee. The chains will still use paper cups for take-away coffee.