Just Water to stop selling plastic cups

Just Water hopes to stop selling plastic cups by October at the latest. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's leading drinking water supplier to the corporate sector, Just Water, has announced it will stop selling single-use plastic cups.

The move is part of a campaign to reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste in the environment.

Tony Falkenstein, Just Water chief executive, conceded that his business had contributed to the plastic problem over the last three decades.

"It didn't hit home, until recently, that we were part of the single-use plastic problem, having sold millions of plastic cups over 30 years," Falkenstein said.

"We won't save the world by ourselves, but if we all do our little bit to reduce this environmental damage, the world will be a better place."

Falkenstein said he estimates Just Water sells around half a million plastic cups each year.

The publicly listed company has found an alternative which is both biodegradable and compostable.

The change will result in a 15 per cent increase to Just Water's costs. The company will retail their cups at a 5 per cent increase and absorb the difference. Currently they sell 1000 cups for $60.

Falkenstein said staff at Just Water were influential in the decision to ditch plastic cups.

"We asked the staff in a questionnaire and the comments we got back were 100 per cent in support [of the move]," Falkenstein said.

Falkenstein said they won't start receiving the new stock until September and hopes its plastic cups will be phased out by October at the latest.

The company is also encouraging others to reduce their usage of single-use plastic.

"We're talking to suppliers of other things we buy and saying 'hey we don't want to buy those things in plastic anymore. What can you do to change things?'," Falkenstein said.

Just Water supplies water coolers, drinking fountains, underbench units, boiling water units and bottled water delivery all around the country.