A WEEKEND picnic in Old Trafford's Centenary Gardens will help focus participants minds on the waste of paper which has been brought about as part of the takeaway coffee cup revolution.

On Saturday, July 22, the first recycled products to be made from 30,000 used coffee cups collected on a Manchester street will be unveiled.

The cups were deposited by users in large bright yellow coffee cup shaped bins on Oxford Road between October of last year and February 2017.

The collection was part of a #1MoreShot initiative spearheaded by environmental charity Hubbub in partnership with Manchester City Council, Groundwork MSSTT and recycling company Simply Cups.

The cups have been turned into bird feeders, plant pot holders and even chalk boards by an eco product design company.

The first of these are being donated to the Love Old Trafford Community Group and the Old Trafford Wonder Women WI at the picnic.

Daily up to seven million coffee cups are thrown away across the UK, with less than 1 per cent of them thought to be recycled. The tricky issue to date has been the plastic film on the inside of the paper cups, which means that the cups can rarely be recycled with other mixed recycling.

Hubbub's Gavin Ellis said: “It was wonderful to see how the people of Manchester embraced the idea of recycling their coffee cups last year and it’s a real pleasure to donate the end results back to the city’s green spaces.

"What started as a small trial in Manchester has now resulted in almost 1.5 million cups being recycled since April this year in London and we’re set to expand to other cities across the UK and overseas. And coffee cup recycling lives on in Manchester with our recycling partner Simply Cups recently announcing plans for expansion in the city.”

Rebecca Knowles of Groundwork, said: “We were delighted to partner with Hubbub to get Manchester recycling coffee cups and Centenary Gardens is the perfect setting to put these recycled plant pot holders and bird feeders into use.

"We’ve been working with the local community groups to restore this award winning site back to its former glory. The restored space is a beautiful recreational area for the local school and community which incorporates locally sourced environmentally sustainable materials.

The picnic will be held between noon and 3pm at the gardens and Seymour Park Primary School field, Northumberland Road, Old Trafford, M16 9GD. The free community event will include live music, dance, food, play and craft activities for families.