An industry group and a paper cup maker have challenged the ABC's War on Waste series by saying that many coffee cups are in fact recyclable.
Last week PKN reported on the issue of disposable paper cups in the light of Craig Reucassel's popular War on Waste series.
As Reucassel pointed out to consumers in the final episode of the series, traditional paper cups are too difficult to recycle because of their interior plastic coating.
The company BioPak, however, is claiming it already has a solution with cups made from sustainably sourced paper and coated with a plant-based waterproof material.
This paper, according to the company, has a carbon footprint of up to 70 per cent lower than regular plastic, which is used to coat most other paper cups.
“At BioPak we measure and completely offset all carbon emissions at each stage of the life cycle of our products from raw materials, production, distribution and disposal, and BioCups can be recycled and composted,” it stated.
“ABC’s War on Waste series... has exposed a problem with the recycling industry, but the claims that no paper cups are recycled in Australia are simply not true.
“Some recyclers say they will not accept paper cups as they are unable to separate the plastic from the paper fibres, yet these very same companies accept paper milk and juice cartons which are made from the same components as coffee cups – plastic coated paper board.
“We hope the current media focus on coffee cups can help raise awareness of the shortcomings of the current unsustainable, linear economic model that uses durable materials like plastic to produce packaging with a very short functional lifespan.”
THE APCO RELEASES FINDINGS
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has also released research showing that takeaway coffee cups can in fact be recycled.
APCO CEO Trish Hyde said that because the actual cup is made from paperboard with a plastic lining – typically polyethylene – there have been concerns that this mixed material presents issues for recycling facilities.
“Our members include material recovery and recycling facilities. Through the working group, we resolved that coffee cups can be recycled," she said.
"However, we also know that there is more work to do to ensure that recyclers receive fair value in recycling this material.”
It is estimated that around 92 per cent of this type of paperboard found its way into landfill in 2013/14.
This included items such as takeaway coffee cups and noodle containers.
Of these types of packaging, about eight per cent are currently recycled.
“We have done some substantial groundwork,” Hyde said.
“Now that we have opened up this discussion, our next steps will be to work with industry to look at ways to increase the recycling of coffee cups and this will include more research and investigation as well as recommendations to also look at community education.”
“Consumers have a choice. They can bring their own cup to the café or recycle their coffee cups.”
FACT FILE
Paper coffee cups account for only 0.5% of the 3.2 million tons of paper consumed in Australia every year.
Currently Australians send around 1.7 million tons of recyclable paper to landfill, which includes 12,000 tons of coffee cups.
Australia’s packaging and newsprint recovery rates are both at or near world’s best practice at 76% +/- and researcher Industry Edge says, in an estimate it has made for a separate analysis, based on utilisation rates, that in total, 73.8% of all paper and paperboard consumed in Australia is recycled.
