If you’re one of the billions of people who fail to function properly before a hot cup of Joe, you might find yourself wondering how environmentally friendly your daily commuter coffee cup actually is once the caffeine kicks in.

There’s been an awful lot of attention drawn to the takeout coffee cup in recent months thanks to the media, with many well-known coffee chains being blasted for the fact that their coffee cups aren’t widely recycled.

Some have seen the error of their ways and started to look at reusable alternatives in a bid to satisfy their increasingly eco-conscious customers, whereas others have continued to rely on the very same coffee cups that many people are strongly against using. This stance could backfire and put their business at risk of losing customers who care about our natural world.

What’s wrong with current coffee cups?
In short, the problem lies with the materials that these coffee cups are made of and the fact that many of the nation’s recycling plants simply aren’t geared up to recycle them.

Many hot beverage cups are coated with a substance called polyethylene which is basically a plastic coating that keeps the contents of the cup within. This coating can clog up the machinery used at processing plants, making them hard to recycle.

Therefore, billions of units end up in landfill each and every year globally, showing the true cost of our morning takeout cuppa.
What makes the subject even more frustrating is that many bins that offer the ability to recycle do not accept plastic paper cups and lids.

What’s the solution?

Luckily, there are alternatives to non-recyclable coffee cups that don’t cost the earth.

Known as reCups, these cups are suitable for both hot and cold beverages, come in a variety of sizes, can be branded with company logos and messages and best of all, they are 100% recyclable at regular paper processing plants to give the materials a second life as something else.

The only double wall paper cups with AAA certification by the institute of cyclos-HTP in collaboration with the European Green Dot scheme, these branded paper cups are manufactured using EarthCoating® and are constructed from 2 individual layers of cardboard. This creates an air pocket that keeps drinks hotter or colder for longer, proving that there’s no excuse for non-recyclable coffee cups!

Check out our range of reCup branded paper cups here.

Tags: coffee cups, recyclable paper cups, branded cups