London, England — UK’s reCUP recyclable paper cup with EarthCoating, has been recognized as fully recyclable by achieving the coveted “Category A Recyclable” certification per The Green Dot (Der Grune Punkt) recycling standards. The Green Dot recognizes standards for recyclability claims in 31 countries including the UK and Ireland. This certification for paper cups with EarthCoating is compliant with the Packaging Recovery Organization Europe “PRO” program per EU Directive 94/62.
Throughout the UK’s coffee cup recycling debate, the underlying challenge is that conventional plastic-coated paper cups are not engineered to be recyclable through widely-available industry-standard recycling equipment, therefore, most are disposed of in landfill. The Green Dot program classifies a conventional paper cup as a plastic-laminated material. There are discussions within Parliament of building a specialist recycling infrastructure over many years, funded by a “Latte Levy” paid by the consumer to address the UK’s annual use of 2.5 billion conventional paper coffee cups.
The reCUP utilizes EarthCoating, a paperboard packaging coating, which is compatible with conventional paper recycling equipment. The Green Dot Certification recognizes paper cups with EarthCoating to be fully recyclable within the “uncoated paper” classification, therefore paper cups with EarthCoating can be recycled into new recycled paper products.
Paper Cups with EarthCoating are a proven solution as production volume over the past 12 months has quickly reached 10 million cups per month.
Since paper cups with EarthCoating are fully recyclable materials, recycling infrastructure investments should be unnecessary and therefore relieves the pressure for public taxes such as the “Latte Levy”.
The double-wall reCUP receiving PRO certification contains these distinctive highlights:
* 90% fiber recovery
* Classification in uncoated paper grades
* Certified as recyclable
* Qualified for baling along with uncoated paperboards (office paper grade and standard OCC)
* Qualified for collection in municipal mixed paper bales
“EarthCoating has enabled a new direction in the recycling of paperboard foodservice packaging” says Chris Tilton, Chief Materials Technology Officer at Smart Planet. “Paperboard packaging with EarthCoating is engineered for recycling and valuable to recyclers to collect and recycle, while achieving the required levels of packaging performance combined. The cerification demonstrates the ability to take immediate steps to solve the problem, using today’s UK recycling infrastructure.”
The Green Dot Certificate is available in the EarthCoating Repulping Report at http://www.smartplanettech.com