LONDON: A majority of the public have thrown their weight behind plans for a 25p charge levied on all drinks sold in disposable cups, a new poll has shown.

The exclusive survey reveals 54 per cent of people support the latte levy, which aims to reduce the worsening environmental impact of the mountain of disposable cups thrown away in the UK every year.

The poll by BMG Research also suggests the levy - backed by an Independent campaign - would persuade most people to stop using the cups.

Some 2.5 billion of the rarely recycled cups are chucked away annually in the UK causing huge damage, but academic researchers have concluded charging 25p on every drink bought in cup would cut the number by 300 million.

A weighted sample of more than 1,500 people were asked whether they support a proposal with 27 per cent “strongly” backing and a further 27 per cent “somewhat” supporting - 54 per cent backing in total.

Just 20 per cent said that to some degree they would oppose the tax while, 24 per cent said they would “neither support nor oppose.”

When respondents were asked how likely they would be to bring in their own reusable cup or container if such a tax was introduced, a majority said they would - with 29 per cent responding it is “fairly likely” while 27 per cent said it is “very likely.”

Just 14 per cent said they would be “very unlikely” to bring in their own reusable cup instead of paying the extra charge and a further 20 per cent said “fairly unlikely.”

Under proposals put forward by MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee earlier this month the 25p levy could people’s behaviour, and raise money to improve waste reprocessing facilities, so-called “binfastructure.”

Chair of the committee Mary Creagh said: “It’s really encouraging to see so many people backing the latte levy to tackle the mountain of cups that we create every year.

“Now it’s time for the government to show leadership on this by bringing in the levy and setting a clear pathway for packaging products to reduce dependence on plastics and phase out non-recycleable cups by 2023 as we have recommended.”

Creating the paper cups to feed the world’s burgeoning coffee house culture sees some 6.5 million trees felled every year.