Compost

Cups being composted with worms

COMPOSTABLE CUPS

A recent development has been the introduction of 'compostable' cups, where the traditional polyethylene layer has been replaced by a compostable plastic (such as plastics based on poly lactic acid or PLA) which conforms to the current European legislation.

Although this has yet to be tested, we believe that compostable cups should be able to be recycled alongside conventional paper cups allowing the fibre to be recovered before the plastic component is treated separately.

More information on this topic is being generated and will be carried out as part of a future project.

STANDARD CUPS

Even conventional paper cups are highly compostable, with over 95% of the material (in the case of coffee cups) being based on a naturally occurring organic matter - wood.

Whilst conventional paper cups do not comply with the current European Legislation for composting, there is every reason to believe that, suitably prepared and composted alongside other materials, the paper component of the cup (95% in the case of a hot drink cup and 90% in the case of a cold drink cup) will degrade and contribute to the compost.

Any residual polyethylene should be removed when the composted material is finally sieved down to the required size to comply with the Publically Available Specification for Composting (PAS 100).

A full evaluation of composting of regular and compostable paper cups will be carried out as part of a future project.