Mojo coffee joins reusable cup-lending system in Wellington

General manager of Mojo New Zealand, Katy Ellis, says the new cup-lending system is part of their "sustainability story". Photo / Supplied

Iconic Wellington coffee chain Mojo has become the latest business in the city to join a reusable coffee cup-lending movement.

From today, Mojo customers can pay a $3 deposit for a reusable keep cup to have their coffee served in, which they can then bring back to the cafe and exchange for another clean cup.

The zero-waste cup-lending system is run through Wellington company Again Again, which focuses on ending single-use waste in a way that supports the local coffee culture.

Founder and managing director Nada Piatek said 38 cafes in the Wellington region use the system, meaning customers can take their cup back to any of those cafes and will receive their coffee in another sterilised cup.

They hope to have 45 cafes on board by the end of March, and 90 by the end of August.

At the announcement of the launch of the system for Mojo this morning, Piatek told those gathered that Wellington City Council had allowed them $10,000 in funding from a waste minimisation fund.

She hoped cup-lending would becoming "the thing" in a couple of years, reducing the number of single-use coffee cups being thrown away every day.

Working with Mojo allowed Again Again to "really put some horsepower behind it".

When customers no longer want their keep cup, they can return it for a $3 refund.

Mojo general manager Katy Ellis said it was part of their "whole sustainability story".

Wellington mayor Justin Lester was also at the announcement, and said moving to reusable cups was the next step after eliminating plastic bags from grocery stores.

"Now we've made this change and no unicorns died," he said.

"These are just really basic things to do."

He wanted to see the movement working to eliminate plastic waste "take over the world".

Anyone wanting to find a list of cafes their cups can be taken to for a free swap can head to the Again Again website.