An Adelaide councillor is pushing to make the city's coffee shops use perishable cups only.

More than one billion non-recyclable coffee cups are thrown out every year in Australia.

Currently, disposable coffee cups used across the country contain plastic layers and liners that do not break down, and contribute to about 60,000kg of plastic waste each year.

They are Australia's second-largest litter source, surpassed only by plastic bottles.

Adelaide City Council's Sandy Verschoor is proposing a pilot program to use compostable-only takeaway coffee cups in the Adelaide CBD.

"The fully compostable cups are a little bit more expensive," Cr Verschoor told 891 ABC Adelaide's Breakfast program.

Compostable coffee cups use plant starch to create an internal lining. ( 891 ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson )

She estimated the cups would add an extra 10 cents to each sale.

"I would be very happy to pay an extra 10 cents for my cup of morning coffee if I knew it wasn't going to landfill," she said.

Cr Verschoor said cups with plant starch linings, similar to compostable shopping bags, would be the most viable option.

She hoped a pilot program would inspire other sustainable practices throughout the city.

She said consumers could also help reduce landfill by refusing plastic lids on coffee cups when they were not needed, or by bringing their own cups.

"Adelaide is a city of firsts, and we should be the first city to do sustainable practices across the city," Cr Verschoor said.

The possibility of a pilot program will be raised at Adelaide City Council's general meeting on Tuesday night.