The Future of Single-use Paper Coffee Cups: Current Progress and Outlook

Stakeholders working in the food service environmentally  are increasingly looking for friendly and sustainable food service packaging.

Paper-based coffee cups is one product segment where effective recycling of waste cups remains elusive. As a result, material substitutes for polyethylene liners are emerging to solve the problem of waste cups.

In this paper, current and emerging commercial material technologies used in the production of paper-based coffee cups that are readily recyclable with other paper grades are reviewed.

Many of these material solutions are also compostable. Special attention is paid to the rapidly evolving, alternative large-scale production of bioplastics. Multiple efforts to effectively develop a more environmentally friendly paper cup are also examined. 

Broad adoption of proposed solutions will require an integrated commitment and approach to circular economics. Specifically, this includes: changes in consumer behavior; brand owner initiatives to meet sustainability goals; governmental policies that limit or forbid use of fossil-based cups; and easily accessible infrastructures at the consumer level for the collection, separation, and processing of the cups.