Just over a year ago the Antz Inya Pantz HQ coffee shop in the inner-city Perth suburb of East Victoria Park opened without offering disposable coffee cups.

Since then, co-owner Craig Muzeroll said the business had saved 70,000 cups from ending up in landfill.

"Were we worried about it? Yeah, absolutely. We're in the business to sell coffee and you have to put the coffee in something.

"It took a lot of discussion amongst the staff and we had to create a way so that when that person came through the door asking for a takeaway they had a soft landing.

"If you don't prepare in advance for that quizzical look — 'What? You don't have paper cups?' — you're left trying to dance without music."

Craig Muzeroll and his partner say the coffee cup ban has been good for business. ( ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne )

But not all Perth coffee shop operators feel they can take that risk.

It is estimated that Australians use a billion takeaway coffee cups a year, the majority of which cannot be recycled.

The ABC spoke to a number of Perth coffee shop managers who said that while they encouraged customers to bring their own cup, takeaway cups were a necessary cost for the business and they sold several hundred coffees a day.

The coffee shop advertises the savings it has made by offering disposable cups. ( ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne )

The soft landing Mr Muzeroll devised was to offer a large range of reusable coffee cups and to offer a free coffee to customers when they bought one.

"It made it not too much more expensive than what a takeaway coffee would cost," he said.

"And we have been able to convert a whole lot of people to a reusable cup and now there is a line to the door."

The cafe keeps a tally of how many coffees it sells and estimates that it has prevented the use of around 70,000 disposable cups in the past 12 months.

At the two other venues Mr Muzeroll owns, takeaway cups are available but he has found that customers had turned away from them.

Coffee cups are generally not recyclable and most end up in landfill or on the street. ( ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne )

"Our paper cup costs in the other venues, which have had increases in sales, went down $9,000 last year which is the equivalent of 60,000 cups.

"So the people buying reusable cups here are taking them to our other two shops and getting them refilled there, which caused further savings.

"If it's good for the environment, it's good for business. I absolutely believe this."

Mr Muzeroll said he believed it was only a matter of time before Australia banned disposable coffee cups and plastic bags in supermarkets outright.