The cup might not be our planet's biggest enemy “Compostables are a practical solution for single-use food-contaminated disposables, allowing foodservice to achieve their sustainability goals,” a representative from the company explains, “Plus, it produces an excellent end-product, compost.” A great option, no doubt, but one that requires more education and investment to ensure these cups don’t end up in landfill like their plastic-based predecessors. Around 40% of UK homes currently have access to similar services. In some places like the Republic of Ireland, it is already possible as waste like Vegware’s plant-based packaging is collected from homes with ordinary organic recycling. Vegware and other similar degradable cups have to be commercially composted.

It sounds like the perfect solution but they can’t just be put out with your usual garden waste. Vegware's plant-based, compostable packaging. “Cups also need to be in good condition when they are recycled,” the PCRRG says, adding that we need to stop using them as “mini-bins” to shove all of our other waste into. They explain that, in the UK at least, there is the capacity for all the paper cups we use to be recycled, the problem is that as customers we don’t put them in the right bins. “Coffee to go is frequently a spontaneous purchase rather than a pre-meditated one,” says the Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group (PCRRG), “some consumers also prefer not to carry a reusable cup, either because they don’t carry a bag with them, or they are worried about contamination from a dirty cup.” If we won’t stop buying our drinks in single-use cups, then perhaps it’s better to instead consider where they go when we are done with them. We don’t always have the time to sit down in a coffee shop and reusable choices require a certain amount of preplanning. It is convenience that usually prevents us from breaking our addiction to disposable paper cups. It takes hundreds of uses before their impact is smaller than a paper cup but this isn’t hard in a cafe environment where they are in constant rotation.

euronews CIRAIGĬeramic cups are by far the best option and should always be your choice if you are drinking your coffee in a restaurant or sitting in a cafe.

Travel mug life cycle analysis