KeepCup
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Reusable consumer products |
| Founded | 2007 in Melbourne, Australia |
| Founder | Abigail Forsyth, Jamie Forsyth |
| Headquarters | Melbourne , Australia |
Area served | Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Europe, China |
| Products | Reusable coffee cups |
| Website | keepcup |
KeepCup is an Australian enterprise established in 2007 by siblings Abigail Forsyth and Jamie Forsyth. Motivated by the desire to minimize waste from disposable coffee cups at their Melbourne-based cafe chain, Bluebag, they created a reusable cup tailored for efficient use behind espresso machines without sacrificing service speed or coffee quality. This innovation positioned KeepCup as the first reusable coffee cup meeting barista standards worldwide. Their range is available in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Europe, and China, with manufacturing partially localized in each market except for silicone bands, which are sourced from China.
By 2009, KeepCup set a goal to boost reuse rates to 30%, a milestone many customers had achieved by 2017. This progress was influenced by increased public awareness following the ABC TV series War on Waste, which highlighted the environmental problem of one billion non-recyclable coffee cups discarded annually in Australian landfills. Further raising environmental consciousness were the broadcast of David Attenborough's Blue Planet II and the 2018 UK Parliament recommendation to prohibit non-recyclable disposable cups by 2023. These events have reinforced KeepCup’s dedication to advocating against single-use cups and encouraging sustainable choices.
Corporate responsibility
By 2019, KeepCup estimated that its user base had prevented billions of disposable, non-recyclable cups from reaching landfill sites.
The company allocates 1% of its global sales revenue to the One Percent for the Planet initiative, demonstrating its environmental responsibility as well as its commitment to employees and local communities. Additionally, KeepCup collaborates with conservation groups such as Sea Shepherd.
A 2018 life-cycle assessment revealed that after 24 days of daily use, KeepCup products exhibit a smaller environmental footprint compared to single-use paper/polypropylene cups. Moreover, all KeepCup models surpass compostable cups in environmental performance after just 10 days of use.
Since 2009, KeepCup has actively supported legislative efforts to ban single-use packaging and envisions a future without such packaging by 2023.