Environment

Additional information will follow later in 2009.

The major component of any paper cup is, by definition, the paper and it is easy to forget that celluslose fibre (the individual fibres used to produce a sheet of paper or board) is probably the world's first and most abundant 'biopolymer'.

In the vast majority of instances, paper is produced, along with a range of other products such as construction timber, are from managed, sustainable forests which were initially planted as a 'crop' and which have been overseen in line with the best practices available, such as the recommendations of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The modern paper industry converts this resource, firstly into pulp and then into paper and board, often making use of the residues from the forest as a source of energy.

The paper material is then laminated with the polyethylene coating and formed into the familiar cup shapes by very resource-efficient operations, squeezing the maximum number of cups from each unit area of the sheet. Any 'offcuts' are also recycled, ensuring that as little material as possible is wasted.

Of course, all this would be wasted, if the only option were to throw away the used paper cup, but we have demonstrated that this valuable material can be reused even after you have finished your coffee or soda!

A report issued by the Alliance for Environmental Innovation in 2008, determined that one paper coffee cup with a sleeve (16 ounce) would have CO2 emissions in the region of 1.1 kilograms per cup with sleeve - including paper from trees, materials, production and shipping. Paper cups, themselves, contain very little recycled paper or other materials because of contamination concerns and regulations.

However, a study by Martin Hocking in 1994 (Reusable and Disposable Cups: An Energy-Based Evaluation, published in Environmental Management Vol 18, No 6) found: "A group of five different types of reusable and disposable hot drink cups have been analyzed in detail with respect to their overall energy costs during fabrication and use. Electricity generating methods and efficiencies have been found to be key factors in the primary energy consumption for the washing of reusable cups and a less important factor in cup fabrication. In Canada or the United States, over 500 or more use cycles, reusable cups are found to have about the same or slightly more energy consumption, use for use, as moulded polystyrene foam cups used once and then discarded. For the same area paper cups used once and discarded are found to consume less fossil fuel energy per use than any of the othr cup types examined.