Sydney cafes are doing away with standard disposable coffee cup trays in favour of a clever recycling trick

The “amazing recycling” was brought to the attention of residents of Sydney’s North Shore by a coffee lover this week following her expedition to a cafe in Fairlight, on the Northern Beaches.

Instead of sending the takeaway coffees off in a standard single-use cardboard tray, staff creatively cut a used one-litre carton of milk so it could safely cradle two drinks.

The woman was “so impressed” at how staff had recycled the carton that she shared her exciting find with fellow members of her local community group.

“Look at the amazing recycling they have going for coffee cup trays. So impressed, hope most cafes and restaurants take this on board,” she wrote in a post.

Many others were similarly excited about the genius hack, with several describing it a “great idea” and “very clever”.

“That is just fantastic,” one wrote.

While it was the first time she had encountered such ingenuity, she quickly learned that many other businesses had been using the same trick for a while.

Several people said the Don Adan cafe in both Mosman and Cremorne did the same, and others shouted out Cafe Zozo on the Neutral Bay for doing it too.

“So many cafes have been doing this for a while now,” one woman pointed out.

The person behind the post said she was glad to have eventually become aware of such a positive initiative.

“So glad to hear so many cafes are doing this. It’s the first I have seen and was so impressed. And of course we will recycle it,” she wrote in a comment.

Cafes in Sydney aren’t the only ones to be doing their bit for the environment, with a UK business entirely banning takeaway coffee cups earlier this year.