Is that cup of coffee really worth the damage it causes to the environment?

Well, you can now do your bit to help.

A new recycling service has been launched for disposable coffee cups and is accessible in Bridport, Beaminster, Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

West Dorset residents are now able to recycle their empty used cups alongside food and drink cartons at specialist recycling banks located in certain car parks.

The Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP), working alongside the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK), has launched the new service for disposable coffee cups.

The environment has been in the spotlight nationally and last week MPs urged consumers should be charged a 25p ‘latte levy’ on disposable coffee cups with the revenue used to pay for improved recycling facilities.

Coffee cups cannot currently be recycled at the kerbside as they are made from similar materials to food and drink cartons - paper with a plastic lining - and can therefore only be recycled at specialist recycling facilities.

Disposable cups that are placed in household and public litter bins are either sent away for expensive treatment or go to landfill.

The carton recycling banks will now accept paper cups which are used for tea, coffee and other hot drinks in high street coffee shops, fast food outlets and supermarkets.

Those people who do not take a reusable cup with them are being encouraged to gather up their empty disposable cups with their waste cartons and take them all to their nearest recycling bank.

Banks will be at Yarn Barton car park, Beaminster, Holmbush car park on Pound Street, Lyme Regis, Morrisons in Bridport and Lower Sea Lane car park, Charmouth.

Councillor Tony Alford, chairman of the DWP’s joint committee, said: “Although coffee cups cannot be recycled through council waste collections, with their growing use we were keen to take the opportunity to include them in the carton recycling banks.”