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Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

economist.com

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Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#11

Post by markvdb »

From the article: "Once used, these could be dumped in landfills with a clear conscience."

Naturally biodegradable waste is not landfill material. A well-informed reporter not realising that shows how much work there still is to do.

The EU single use plastic ban [0] is coming in July 20201. Is there any US equivalent yet?

[0] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190321IP...

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#12

Post by klyrs »

Animats wrote: post #8

Bagasse is widely used for making paper plates, clamshell containers, and other disposables.[1] Cheap, biodegradeable, and non-toxic. What's new here? Smoother texture, perhaps? [1] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Disposable-bagasse-bi...

Bagasse is short fibers that absorb water and oil readily. Adding longer bamboo fibers seems to increase tolerance for both. The stuff that's out there now wouldn't hold near-boiling water for a minute much less 2 hours, which is their claim.

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#14

Post by sfifs »

esturk wrote: post #6

This would be great for coffee chains. Some people think that when you bring you own cup to Starbucks, it'll save a paper cup. This is actually not true. The barista has to use pour the coffee to a new cup and then they'll pour in on yours.

Almost all paper nowadays is made from managed forests (ie. Plantations) and paper is perfectly bio-degradable. So I'm not sure why it's a big problem.

I use a mug because the 50c off pays off within a month and the mug keeps the coffee warm longer than the paper cup and no, the barista pours my coffee directly into the mug

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#16

Post by ikiris »

markvdb wrote: post #11

From the article: "Once used, these could be dumped in landfills with a clear conscience." Naturally biodegradable waste is not landfill material. A well-informed reporter not realising that shows how much work there still is to do. The EU single use plastic ban [0] is coming in July 20201. Is there any US equivalent yet? [0] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190321IP...

Yeah Trump banned biodegradable alternatives, and made a coal subsidy.

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#17

Post by redis_mlc »

ikiris wrote: post #16
markvdb wrote: post #11

From the article: "Once used, these could be dumped in landfills with a clear conscience." Naturally biodegradable waste is not landfill material. A well-informed reporter not realising that shows how much work there still is to do. The EU single use plastic ban [0] is coming in July 20201. Is there any US equivalent yet? [0] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190321IP...

Yeah Trump banned biodegradable alternatives, and made a coal subsidy.

Dumps are anaerobic, so I'm not sure anything is biodegradable once earth is layered on top of it.

My understanding is that once something goes into a landfill, it's there for a thousand years or more.

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#18

Post by djrogers »

> They also found that when they made a cup out of the stuff and filled it with water heated almost to boiling point, the cup remained intact for more than two hours. Though this is not as long as a plastic cup would last (it would survive indefinitely) it is long enough for all practical purposes.

Err, no. A disposable cup that leaks after 2 hours is a horrible product. Disposable cups are at their most useful in the car, and it’s easy for a bit of coffee to be left in a cup for more than a couple of hours.

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#19

Post by viraptor »

esturk wrote: post #6

This would be great for coffee chains. Some people think that when you bring you own cup to Starbucks, it'll save a paper cup. This is actually not true. The barista has to use pour the coffee to a new cup and then they'll pour in on yours.

Is that a Starbucks / state / US rule? In Australian cafes they make the coffee straight in your reusable cup.

Re: Better disposable coffee cups can be made with waste from sugar cane

#20

Post by adchari »

sfifs wrote: post #14
esturk wrote: post #6

This would be great for coffee chains. Some people think that when you bring you own cup to Starbucks, it'll save a paper cup. This is actually not true. The barista has to use pour the coffee to a new cup and then they'll pour in on yours.

Almost all paper nowadays is made from managed forests (ie. Plantations) and paper is perfectly bio-degradable. So I'm not sure why it's a big problem. I use a mug because the 50c off pays off within a month and the mug keeps the coffee warm longer than the paper cup and no, the barista pours my coffee directly into the mug

The issue isn’t really the paper (although one can argue that any single use item isn’t ideal), paper coffee cups contain a thin layer of plastic on the inside to prevent leaking, which prevents them from being easily recycled or biodegrading naturally (which also isn’t possible in a landfill). A minority of recycling plants actually has the capability to separate the paper from the plastic, but this is not time or cost efficient and so it’s easier to just throw it out.

Also, some places do brew or mix in a paper cup first, some will brew directly into your cup.

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