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Eat, drink and shop at York
HomeEat, drink and shop at YorkEat and drinkSustainabilityLatte levy

Latte Levy

The Latte Levy is a 50p charge applied to single-use plastic takeaway cups for coffee and other hot drinks in cafés and restaurants across the University of York. Introduced to encourage the use of reusable cups and reduce single-use waste, the charge was increased to 50p in August 2025.

The funds collected through the latte levy are exclusively allocated to supporting sustainable projects and initiatives within the Commercial Services departments of York SU and the University, including our most recent student-facing initiative, the Sustainable Development Grant.

Latte Levy Achievements

Donated £200
to Your Café, a project that was set up in order to benefit the local community
Donated £1,000
to the Tonne of Tins campaign for food banks in the local area
Donated £500
to student-led group Scoop
Purchased recycled furniture
which will last 25 years
Purchased re-usable water bottles
for all new first year students living on campus
Partnered with Olio
and their Food Waste Hero volunteers to make sure edible food never goes to waste, but ends up benefiting the local community.
Purchased aluminum cups
for Roses to make the event as plastic free as possible
250 bamboo lunch boxes
were given to students during Freshers

YORCUP

The Latte Levy has played a vital role in funding the YORCUP scheme, a joint initiative between the University of York Students' Union and the University, by enabling the annual purchase of new cups and sleeves.

Additionally, we have utilised the levy to introduce YORCUP bins across campus, making it even more convenient for everyone to return their cups.

Two people holding up YORCUP's in front of the Shambles in York

Giant Recycling Bins

Green bin with sustainability branding on

Using the Latte Levy, we purchased 25 Giant Recycling bins, that were placed around campus. The recycling bins are specifically for the disposal of single-use plastic lined cups, lids and leftover liquids.

The bins are emptied by Forge Recycling, who use the plastic cups to produce a range of items including notebooks, pens and other stationery items.

Sustainable Development Grants funded

Rechargeable batteries

Technical Theatre Society have been awarded funding to roll out the use of rechargeable batteries in their operations - reducing the waste generated by their activities.

Beekeeping Equipment

Beekeeping Society have been awarded funding to invest in hives and PPE equipment to kickstart their activities.

Schools' Climate Action Support

Sponsoring the Schools' Climate Action Support Event and the KS3 and 4 York Sustainable Cities workshop run by staff at the Department for Education.

Trail Cameras on Campus

The student volunteering group Creatures on Campus used the Grant to fund three new trail cameras to allow them to monitor nature on campus, helping support their work building a biodiverse campus.

Green Chemistry’s Coffee Compost Scheme

Lead by a PhD student, the Green Chemistry Team in the Chemistry Department used the Grant to fund an experimental coffee compost garden. The grant funded compost bins and gardening beds to help the team trial how Departmental coffee waste could be repurposed.
Games for Uni students to make sense of climate action

This project used the grant to develop a collection of role-play games. The games focused on helping University students navigate the trade-offs and decisions involved in taking individual climate action.

Trialing more sustainable weigh boats in biology labs

This project used the Grant to trial sustainable alternatives to the polystyrene weigh boats used in lab testing in the biology department.

Health Sciences Herb garden

Staff in the Health Science Department used the grant to establish their departmental herb garden. The money was used to buy containers, compost, and starter plants from York Disabled Workers Co-op, a local social enterprise that builds garden planters and containers.

Fruit and Root

The grant has helped fund the Fruit and Root scheme. The grant was used to pay student staff members to operate the scheme.

Student Pantry

The grant was used to fund the creation of the Student Pantry, designed to provide students with access to free, non-food items whenever they are in need. The grant provided money to set up the project and source the first stock of goods for the pantry.

Bike Gear Bank

The Bike Gear Bank aimed to provide students with easy access to the bike gear essential to safe cycling in York. The Grant was used to pay for the construction of a storage space for bike gear in the York SU office. The University Transport team stocked these shelves with their bike equipment, offering students another point of access to bike equipment.

Lunch and Learn

Feminist Society's Lunch and Learn Series consists of a series of both internal and external speakers across the year. The events aim to engage the University community in discussions on gender-based issues. The Grant helped fund the travel costs of the speakers visiting York.

Free period products

The grant was used to pay for 1200 sanitary towels and 450 tampons, helping fund the provision of free period products on campus.

Sustainable Development Grant

Eat, Shop & Drink Sutainability

YORCUP