Why are cardboard cups the right lasting alternative?

Do you dream that your cup comes from a material that is not only recyclable but is also renewable and circular by nature? If we talk about wood fiber -based packaging materials, then you have found the solution. At the start of this, these fibers must come from certified “sustainable management” forests. This sustainable management saves biodiversity and retains healthy forests. This is one of the safest ways to fight global warming. Indeed, the trees absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This carbon is stored - or kidnapped - in their fibers. As the tree is growing, it stores more and more carbon dioxide. One of the benefits of cardboard cups is therefore that this packaging also stores carbon dioxide, even after recycling where fibers are dedicated to a new life.

The benefits of cardboard cups from an environmental point of view are numerous: 

• Recyclability
• Low carbon footprint
• Composability and biodegradability
• Traceability
• Efficiency of the material used

We will study in more detail each of the environmental benefits of cardboard cups in the following paragraphs.

Recyclability

The value of cardboard cups is preserved thanks to recycling and reuse. Currently, more than 82% of cardboard packaging is recycled in the European Union. But how are they recycled? This is what we are going to explain to you now.

• Plastic cups

These cups are only made from paper: the waterproofing is done without coating without polyethylene and water -based (projection of aqueous varnish). After use, they are fully recyclable and compostable. The recovery of virgin wood fiber from this cup again makes it possible to produce products from paper (such as newspapers). In order to be able to enter your cardboard cup into a recycling process, it must be thrown into a paper trash can, and then be collected and sent to specialized paper factories. 

• Cardboard cups and plain

These cups have a thin layer of plastic produced from plants (PLA). PLA plastic cannot be broken down into nature, it is therefore only degradable in factories provided for this purpose. Plastic is however broken down under certain conditions: for example, plastic must first be moistened for 90 days before being able to decompose. For the moment, there are few factories in the world practicing this type of recycling. We therefore advise you to throw these cups like normal cups, so that they are burned and transformed into biomass.

• Cardboard cups with Peak Film

The presence of a thin layer of plastic is not an obstacle to recycling, on the condition that the cups are properly sorted and emptied. Within the sorting center, the cardboard and the plastic are separated and the cups are then immersed inside large water tanks. This follows the stages of suspension, transformation into paste in the pulp, purification, disengagement and cycloning. When the dough is finally clean and homogeneous, it is spread out, pressed to make a sheet, then dried. A mother coil is then made, and once it is finished, the dough can return to the factory to make other cups, which can be put back on the market.

Low carbon footprint

Single use cardboard cups have a lower carbon footprint than disposable plastic cups or reusable plastic cups, made from fossil original plastic materials. The difference in carbon footprint can be verified with scientific measurement tools such as LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) or life cycle analysis. For example, a recent study commissioned by Stora Enso, one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world, has shown that cardboard packaging for drink has a 47% lower carbon footprint than 100% virgin PET cups and 37% lower by Report to PET100% recycled.

Composability and biodegradability

Composting is a form of organic recycling and one of the options to reduce packaging waste and give it back a second life. Conventional recycling is preferable for packaging based on wood fibers but composting is interesting when the materials are difficult to recyclable (for example when they have been contaminated with food that generates bacteria). This composting means that the materials will be degraded by microorganisms under certain conditions of temperature and humidity. Cardboard cups, when they have a plastic film (plastic based on corn starch) or a watery aqueous varnish are perfectly compostable. The tests preceding the certificates are subject to rigorous European certifications, to ensure in particular that compost will not be toxic to humans or nature. It is very important to check the industrial or domestic composting conditions of cardboard cups, in order to guide consumers well and prevent them from throwing them into the wild by thinking that they will deteriorate.

Traceability

The big European cardboard manufacturers, which provide the manufacturers of cups in raw materials, all have excellent traceability of their wood supply, certified by international organizations with very rigorous methodologies: the two main ones are PEFC (Program for the Endorsment of Forest Certification) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). But you can also find FSI certification (Forestry Certification Service). This gives strong insurance for customers who are sensitive to the impacts of deforestation in the world. 

Efficiency of the material used

Cardboard cups are designed to be always more efficient. Indeed, their weight is always lighter, in order to optimize the amount of raw material used to serve the needs of consumers.