Currently,
it had been estimated that the number of Sydney takeaway coffee cups that are being
disposed of every year amounts to over half a trillion, which is about seventy
cups for every person on the planet. Unfortunately, more than 95% of these go
directly to landfills.
Another
unfortunate fact is that the whole process is also not sustainable from the
simple fact that most of these paper cups are made straight out of virgin
materials coming from trees.
Takeaway
At
the outset, these paper cups are commonly named takeaway cups and they were originally
designed to be that way – to be taken away. Later, when we finish consuming our
beverage (coffee, mostly (we disposed of the cups in the usual throwaway manner,
like any trash.
These
days, most of them usually end up in ever-growing landfills in most countries
where they are used. Another wrong disposal method is burning them (and
throwing more carbon into the air). Some conscientious users throw them into compostable
bins.
The
unfortunate part is simply that most people are unaware of all these, and that
there are so few recycling companies that recycle these cups into another set
of useful paper materials.
Plastic coating
The
biggest reason these paper cups can’t be recycled is the fact that they are
designed that way at the outset of their manufacture. Today, a typical paper
cup is actually coated with about 5% plastic.
The
presence of plastic is necessary because the material can hold the liquid in
the cup without leaking all over the place. The first paper cups suffer such
things as liquid leakage, seepage of liquid into the paper materials and some
other minor drinking disasters.
These
and other things that undermined the reason for the use of paper material
caused the development of so-called design renovations. The use of plastic was
originally thought of as brilliant. The coatings and other innovations (rounded
rims, etc) came in later.
Wax
Not
all paper cups are coated in plastic, however. Less frequently, some manufacturers
opted to coat them with wax. They actually work just like the plastic coatings.
First,
the coating holds the liquid in without spilling and without the seepage factor
that undermines the paper material. (It becomes soggy and unusable.) This
usually happens if the cold contents develops some condensation outside of the
cup and seeps into the paper material.
Recycling
difficulties
Much
of the recycling problems of these paper cups stems from the fact that the
whole item contains plastic. The presence of plastic contaminates the whole
paper recycling process.
Another
problem is the difficulty of separating the plastic from the paper materials.
This would mean a massive logistical problem for the recycling company.
At
landfills, these cups can also release methane gas with 21 times global warming
potential than carbon dioxide. Other cups are incinerated to avoid the growing
landfills, only to release carbon into the air as well.
For
the user, separating Sydney takeaway coffee cups coated with plastic from the
wax-coated cups (which can be recycled) would be a totally new habit to form. (Teaching
new habits to people can be futile.)
