Detpak has launched its RecycleMe system, allowing coffee cups across the nation to be saved from landfill and commercially recycled into paper.
Most takeaway coffee cups are not recyclable, due to the lining within the cup, meaning more than a billion paper cups are sent to landfill each year across Australia. The Detpak solution allows for this to be removed in the recycling process, meaning that the paper elements can be salvaged.
With special collection bins conveniently located where Detpak coffee cups are used, the consumer simply throws away the cup like they normally would.
Tom Lunn, marketing and innovation manager, Detpak, explains, “The RecycleMe System promotes a longer life for the paper cup fibre and supports a circular economy to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value for as long as possible.
“Our RecycleMe System is a total end to end solution, turning takeaway cups into recycled paper products, and contributing to positive global environmental change.”
The project is a partnership with Shred-X to collect, count and recycle the cups as part of an existing national collection system in Australia.
Van Karas, general manager, Shred-X says, “Shred-X currently has 50,000 collection points around Australia as part of their secure document destruction service and will support the collection of RecycleMe cups.”
In an Australian first, Shred-X will also be providing a collection service and recycling commitment for RecycleMe coffee cup lids, with lids to be processed with confirmed end markets in Australia and via export.
Tim Adams Specialty Coffee will be one of the first Queensland brands to launch with the system, with founder Tim Adams noting the RecycleMe System would provide a true solution for the coffee industry.
Adams says, “Our dedication to quality in an ethically responsible manner is paramount as we take our responsibility to both coffee growers and the environment very seriously. Providing RecycleMe™ takeaway cups will be a core part of our sustainable business practices.”
CMI Toyota will be one of the first brands to launch with RecycleMe in South Australia, while in New South Wales, Veneziano Coffee Roasters will be the first.
In Victoria, Seven Seeds Coffee will be one of the first to debut the cups and system. Alison Lyons, community manager, Seven Seeds Coffee, says, "We are really happy to introduce the RecycleMe System into Seven Seeds – takeaway cups have been a blight on the coffee industry for too long. Our waste management strategy follows the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle – and this is where RecycleMe has stepped in, with a guaranteed recycling solution and we're aiming for a 50 per cent collection rate, and have full confidence our customers in Carlton are up for it.”
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