Recyclers and packaging experts have said new paper concepts that claim to be ‘plastic-free’ or ‘zero-plastic’ are hard-to-recycle and disrupt processing.
Brands continue to test and trial cups that they hope to market as ‘more sustainable’, including those with so-called ‘aqueous coatings’. Details of what these liners actually consist of are a closely guarded secret.
However, those that have tested them for their recyclability have said they don’t want them clogging up their systems. “Recycling them requires a different process,” explained Hannah Osman, national cup recycling manager at Valpak. “There is a lack of consistency,” added Rob Tilsley, fibre operations group leader for James Cropper, a specialist paper converter and maker. “The ones we want are made from virgin fibre with a PE-liner – those are the ones we can absolutely deal with,” he explained.
Novel coatings are not as easy to separate as a plastic liner and can break down and become part of the paper, leaving flecks in the final reprocessed products which impacts quality and price.
Some of the claims made by corporates about the cups are already coming unstuck. Marks & Spencer last year launched “the first fully recyclable coffee cup on the high street” with a (Flustix) plastic-free accreditation that “ensures even if the cup ends up in landfill it will break down and leave no harmful plastics behind”. The cups were rolled out more widely in March but the reference to them being “plastic-free” was (quietly) removed as Flustix shifted from a ‘plastic-free’ to ‘less plastics’ certification.
The practicalities of recycling paper cups – from the materials used and collecting clean streams of them, to consumer engagement in recycling and possible new policies to improve recycling rates – are all discussed in a new report published by Footprint Intelligence in association with Valpak by Reconomy this week.
The report details how the foodservice sector can best prepare for a mandatory takeback scheme. The scheme was omitted from the UK Government’s EPR regulations in May, after Defra decided that “these obligations will be introduced through a separate regulation to allow further time for stakeholder engagement”.
In a range of interviews with packaging companies, foodservice chains, sustainability experts and NGOs it was clear that even in the absence of a mandatory scheme, the whole cup supply chain will need to improve on current recycling rates of the cups (estimates for which range from 2% to 6%).
Demand for the used cups is there. The James Cropper mill in the village of Burneside, in Cumbria, could take 750 million of them a year when running 24/7. The cups are delivered there via the National Cup Recycling Scheme and contractors Biffa and Veolia. “This is valuable, sought-after material and there is plenty of capacity available,” said Roger Wright, waste strategy and packaging manager at Biffa, which in January launched a nationwide cup collection scheme.
There has been a “real shift in demand” for the products the mill makes from reprocessed paper cups, said Tilsley. These include greetings cards for Hallmark and happy meal books for McDonald’s Germany. Thanks to a partnership with Cumbria Waste and New Horizon Plastics in North Wales, the plastic liner is no longer sent to energy-from-waste plants – it is converted into pellets and applied to commercial packaging and agricultural applications.
