Bangalore as one of the biggest cities in India has placed multiple plastic manufacturers of plastic like disposable cups. Disposable ware have an important place in international market.
The increased use of foodservice practices that are less harmful to the environment and more sustainable Stakeholders from all over the world continue to place a primary priority on packaging.
Value chain of the food service industry one subcategory of products is disposable coffee cups made of paper. Where it has not yet been possible to recycle used cups in an efficient manner.
As a direct consequence of this, new material alternatives to polyethylene liners are coming into existence in order to combat the issue of waste cups.
This article provides a comprehensive assessment of the commercial material technologies that are currently in use as well as those that are in the process of being developed for use in the production of paper-based coffee cups that are easily recyclable with other grades of paper. Composting is an option for many of these different material options.
Particular focus is being directed toward the quickly developing and alternative methods of producing bioplastics on a big scale. The many different initiatives taken to effectively develop a paper cup that is less harmful to the environment are also investigated.
It should come as no surprise that widespread acceptance of the offered solutions will call for an integrated commitment and strategy to circular economics.
Specifically, this includes changes in consumer behavior, brand owner initiatives to meet sustainability goals, governmental policies that limit or forbid the use of fossil-based cups, and easily accessible infrastructures at the consumer level for the collection, separation, and processing of biodegradable cups. All of these things are important to consider.
Out-of-home (OOH) consumption of coffee and coffee beverages has skyrocketed all over the world as a direct result of the proliferation of coffee shops and other similar establishments. Recent surveys have estimated that the market size for single-use OOH hot paper coffee cups is 118 billion units per year, and with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.8%, it will reach 294 billion units by the year 2025. (iMarc 2020).
In the United States, the number of coffee shops climbed by 16% between 2012 and 2017, while in the United Kingdom, that number increased by 28%. It is anticipated that this expansion will continue, with the demand for convenience among customers serving as the primary driver (Chaudhuri 2018).
Consumption of one-time use OOH cups is driven by consumers who are cash-rich but time-poor because to their hectic lifestyles. According to Hamalainen 2019, this pattern is forecast to boost yearly consumption of paperboard cupstock from its current level of 2.2 million tons (mt) to 6.8 million mt by the year 2025, representing a three-fold increase.
Although expanded polystyrene (EPS) cups, which are formed from cellulose fibers with a polymeric barrier liner, are often used for serving single-use hot coffee beverages, the scope of this research is limited to paper cups made from fiber-based paper, which are made from cellulosic fibers.
At a staggering 136 million cups per day, the United States is far and away the leader among all countries in the consumption of OOH paper-based coffee cups. After that comes China with 27.4 million people, then Russia with 16.4 million.
Million), Germany (7.2 million), the United Kingdom (7.0 million), and Australia (2.7 million) (Ma.). The majority of old coffee cups are thrown away in landfills, where they remain non-biodegradable for an extended period of time (Rodden 2018).
Plastic disposable cups
Plastic made Disposable Cups are typically lined with polyethylene (PE) coatings. This is done to create the required limited-term hot liquid, oil, and fatty acid resistant barrier functionalities, as well as to maintain cup integrity and preserve coffee aroma required for ultimate customer experience.
Although packaging makes use of sustainable and sometimes recycled wood fiber to make the paperboard cup stock, the cups themselves are typically lined with polyethylene (PE) coatings. Coffee cups made of paper are used for a total of thirteen minutes on average before being discarded.
We estimate that less than one percent of used paper coffee cups are recycled worldwide due to (a) ineffective or inconsistent recycling schemes among communities and venues, (b) the perception that paper coffee cups are made from a difficult-to-recycle mix of paper and plastic, and (c) the inability of many recycling facilities to commit to processing food contaminated waste.
Despite efforts and incremental progress in developed economies to increase recycling rates, we estimate that less than one percent of used paper coffee cups are recycled worldwide.
The limited availability of systematic collecting, sorting, and processing at recycling or industrial composting facilities contributes to the low rate at which used coffee cups are recovered and reused.
On the other hand, coffee cups made of fossil fuel-based plastic that are covered with paper take more than twenty years to degrade in landfills and are one of the most significant contributors to the pollution of land, rivers, and oceans.
Consumers, particularly those who belong to the generations known as Millennials and Generation Z, have developed a heightened awareness regarding the ecological consequences of the products they buy.
Because of this, manufacturers and owners of brands have been forced to reconsider the end-of-life choices available for paper coffee cups. These possibilities include the collection, separation, and recycling of the various components of the cup.
In actuality, the vast majority of paper coffee cups are discarded in an incorrect manner or are combined with other types of waste that are ultimately dumped in landfills.
Photodegradation, thermo-oxidative degradation, oxo-biodegradation, and hydrolytic degradation are some of the longer-lasting processes that are required for the majority of plastics, including PE, to completely disintegrate.
This is because most plastics, including PE, do not degrade easily in the environment (Webb et al. 2013). As a result of this, the common one-time use OOH paper coffee cup that is coated with polyethylene has become a major target for customers, brand owners, governments, and businesses that are seeking to replace fossil-based plastics with alternatives that are derived from renewable resources and are less harmful to the environment (Chaudhuri 2018).
Biodegradation
The biodegradation of used coffee cups through the process of composting is an appealing waste management option. The process of composting involves the aerobic and biological breakdown of organic materials in a controlled environment to produce a finished product that is similar to humus and is known as compost (USDA 2010).
In contrast to degradation, biodegradation depends on microorganisms like bacteria and fungi to metabolize the material in such a way that it completely disintegrates into water, carbon dioxide, and decayed organic material or compost. This is in contrast to the process of degradation, which relies on chemical processes.
The compost that is produced as a byproduct is rich in nutrients that are useful to soil and is frequently utilized as a soil supplement. Composting rates are affected by the chemical content of the material being composted, as well as the amount of time and temperature that are present during the process. This is true of all chemical processes.
Within 84 to 180 days, sixty to ninety percent of the material will biodegrade in normal composting conditions where the temperature is at least twenty-five degrees Celsius, and preferably thirty-five degrees Celsius.
During this time, the material will disintegrate into pieces that are less than two millimeters in size.
Industrial compositing, which takes place at temperatures ranging from 50 to 60 degrees Celsius and decreases the amount of time needed to biodegrade compostable paper coffee cups and other foodservice packaging to less than one month, is the technology that is most widely adopted (European Bioplastics 2017).
However, there are very few industrial composting facilities available across the world.
Plastic manufacturers in Bangalore
Bangalore manufacturers are mostly producing plastic cups and containers. Research has demonstrated that plastic coffee cups made of polyethylene terephthalate do not rapidly biodegrade.
Substrates that are covered on both sides with polyethylene are even more resistant to contamination because the additional layer of plastic slows the progression of microbes toward the fibrous component. During the process of deterioration, microplastic particles are frequently liberated from plastic coated cups.
These fragments have the potential to be easily transported by surface water into streams and seas. On the other hand, it can take decades for a cup that has been thrown into the ocean to break down and decompose.
As a consequence of this, there is a significant amount of enthusiasm regarding the streamlining of the collection, sorting, and recycling of OOH paper coffee cups, in addition to the pursuit of alternative barrier technologies that aid in composability and biodegradability.
This article provides an overview of the most recent developments in barrier coatings and other technologies that are employed in the manufacturing of recyclable or biodegradable OOH paper coffee cups.
It outlines the various initiatives that have been taken to increase the recyclability and compostability of coffee cups. The progress that has been made on a global scale in the quest for alternatives to plastic barrier coatings and the hurdles that need to be overcome in order to successfully replace fossil-based PE are the primary focuses of this article.
The task at hand is a difficult one because successfully replacing plastic coatings made from fossil fuels will require the efficient delivery of all necessary barrier and functional cup properties (such as heat sealability, anti-blocking, mechanical strength, and thermal insulation) within established production methods. This presents a significant challenge.
In addition to this, any replacements for the existing cup platform have to be economically viable and make a contribution to the circular economy.
Only alternative technologies that have already been put into commercial use will be taken into consideration for the purposes of this study. In addition, the difficulties associated with recycling paper coffee cups as well as the advent of various programs to simplify the process and raise recycling rates are discussed. Last but not least, there is a review of major trends that will have an effect on the replacement of barrier polymers based on fossil fuels.
DESIGN AND COMPOSITION OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER COFFEE CUP
At this time, the majority of paper coffee cups are manufactured from coated paperboard, also known as cup stock. Cup stock can either be single-walled or double-walled.
The barrier coating is commonly constructed from polyethylene (PE), and it is either extruded onto the paperboard or laminated to it. The cup is made up of a paperboard substrate that has a basis weight of between 150 and 350 g/m2 and a polyethylene liner that has a basis weight of between 8 and 20 g/m2 and a thickness of around 50 m.
according to Mohan and Koukoulas (2004), the main components of a coffee cup’s design are as follows: a cylindrical wall section (A) along a vertical lap seam (B), which unites the end edges (C) and (D).
A cup with a single wall and a PE coating on only one side of the board is what you get with this design. It is possible to coat the top (outer) layer in order to improve its capacity to be printed on and heat sealed. Conventional procedures, most often melt-bonding, are utilized in order to secure the edge pieces to one another at both ends (hot air or ultrasound).
In addition, paper cups include a separate circular bottom section (E) that is heat-sealed to the side wall and a circular rolling rim (F) that is attached to the side wall.
The latter has a caliper that is greater than that of the paperboard base at the bottom. In order to produce a better seal, the bottom cup material is sometimes coated on both sides with polyethylene (PE).
Plastic cups in international market
International market has different cups to offer and one of them is plastic cups. Cups stock made of paperboard on both the inside and the outside of a double-walled paper cup are separated by an insulating layer to create a double-walled paper cup.
The employment of a corrugated media in the middle layer of a structure is common for the purposes of adding structural rigidity and providing thermal insulation.
A mixture of layers can be used in certain designs of double-walled cups to provide additional thermal insulation to the cup. This can be accomplished by including an air gap between the outer and inner paperboard layers or by incorporating polymeric insulating strips between the layers.
These designs eliminate the requirement for a clutch or sleeve, enable for the contents to maintain a warm temperature for a longer period of time while safeguarding the aroma, and have a lower maximum wall temperature for a “warm touch” without burning the fingers.
Even though it only accounts for between 5 and 10 percent of the total weight of the finished cup, the performance of the inner liner in both the cup’s end-use and its production is of the utmost importance.
The liner needs to have a significant level of resistance to both warm and cold liquids, as well as resistance to the fatty acids that are found in milk and cream.
In addition to this, it performs an essential heat-sealing function, which safeguards the structural integrity of the cup bottom, side seam, and rim. Because imbibition from liquids will compromise the cup’s mechanical integrity, the seal components that are located along the cup’s exposed edges need to be resistant to imbibition. In addition to this, seals have to be able to withstand the high temperatures that are present while hot beverages are being served.
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