Its shocking to hear that at least 3 billion disposable cups are
thrown away in the UK every year!
How many have you produced? 2 drinks per day per working year = at
least 440!
Some facts
- At the current time (April 2017) there are only 2 companies
currently in the UK who can recycle these paper cups - the plastic coating film of polyethylene needs to be removed from the cardboard. (EU Health and Safety
regulations state that hot drink cups cannot be made from 100% paper or cardboard alone)
- So even if you pop your cup in a properly designated recycle
bin, most of them will still end up in landfill.
- Many people simply do not put the cup in the proper bin to
begin with (laziness? Unavailability of suitable bins?)
- They can end up anywhere eg blown into the sea or
waterways.
- When a cup goes to landfill it takes up to 30 years to break
down. This is what the experts estimate - it hasnt yet been proven as these cups haven't been around that long but it will definitely take a long time. As the cups break down methane gas and CO2 is produced.
- It takes 100,000 trees per year to fuel Britain's coffee
habit as only virgin paper is used for the one off use cups. Cutting down trees has of course many negative environmental and social effects on the planet, people and animals.
- Disposable products are not only a source of waste pollution
but so much energy is wasted in their actual production in the first place.
- Enough said - You need to STOP USING SINGLE USE DISPOSABLE
CUPS!