With Cyprus ranking 15th globally for its coffee consumption, the public was urged on Tuesday to use reusable cups when ordering their favourite beverage, as at least 10,000 single-use caps go to waste every day, according to the Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free initiative.

It called on the public to participate in the BringYourCup initiative aimed at cutting down on plastic.

“Each of us consumes an average of over 13kg of coffee per year,” it said.

Nonetheless, almost all the coffee consumed is served in disposable cups “which add to the growing problem of waste management on our island.”

Every day, at least 10,000 disposable cups end up in the garbage, “with the majority of them containing plastic that harms both the environment and our health,” the groups said.

“Even worse,” it added, disposable cups are often used even for customers enjoying their coffee inside cafés.

It called on the public to visit https://bringyourcup.org/ to see the cafés that participate in the initiative and encourage their favourites to participate.