LABOUR condemned NHS England’s splashing out on more than half a billion disposable cups in the last five years as a “staggering example of waste.”

NHS trusts have bought more than 600 million throwaway cups since 2013, according to data published today obtained through freedom of information requests by the Press Association.

London’s Guy’s & St Thomas’s Trust procured almost 30 million throwaway plastic, polystyrene and plastic-lined paper cups over that time — more than 6.2m in one year alone.

The huge number of cups bought for drinks and dispensing medicines was revealed amid rising concern over the effect of single-use items on the environment.

Labour’s shadow health minister Justin Madders said that the number of cups bought by Britain’s largest employer is a “staggering example of waste in the NHS.”

He said: “The NHS plays an important role in securing a sustainable future for generations to come.

“I hope the Secretary of State will intervene to ensure the health service is not shirking its responsibilities.

“Implementing a target to reduce disposable cup waste is a necessary start.”

Marine Conservation Society senior pollution policy officer Dr Sue Kinsey said: “If it really is an impossibility to wash cups, at the very least the service should move away from using polystyrene, which is not easily recyclable, and move to a system where cups are collected and recycled.”

Senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK Louise Edge said the figures show “how out of control our relationship with single-use plastic has become.”

She said: “It’s time for the government to step in and help suppliers find viable solutions.”