Do They Matter for Your Business?
If you’re a sustainable business, you’ll get interested in using biodegradable paper cups. The problem is, there’s a lot of confusion surrounding biodegradable items. You may even struggle to figure out the right coffee cup options for your business.
What are Biodegradable Items?
By definition, any biodegradable item breaks down into its natural form. If you expose the item to microbes under the right conditions, it degrades into soil nutrients, carbon dioxide, and water.
Ideally, biodegradable items blend with other earth materials. They then decay without causing pollution or hurting any life. In short, if you use bio-items, they cycle back into nature and restore the ecosystem to its original state.
Biodegradable items aren’t equal. Some degrade within a short time. And so are more befitting for sustainable businesses. Products like bio-plastics degrade longer unless you expose them to the right conditions.
Also, remember; not all biodegradable labelled items are safe for the environment. Some can leach chemicals to the environment while breaking down.
If you’re serious about sustainability, you must choose 100 % biodegradable items. That is, the particular item must have a short degrading time, and also be chemical-free.
What Materials are Biodegradable?
First, you must know the materials that classify as biodegradable. It’s a cinch to point items that biodegrade fast. Vegetables and food scraps decompose within five days to one month.
Paper cups takes between three to five months to degrade. Meanwhile, bio-plastics may take up to one year, depending on their strength. Items like plastic and form cups need at least five centuries to break down.
Moreover, you need the right conditions to degrade some items. Products that may decompose in a composting facility may break down longer in a landfill. Thus, temperatures, microbes, and humidity need to be standard to break items like PLA.
What’s the Contestation with Biodegradable Paper Cups?
There’s a lot of argument surrounding coffee cups. Most debates arise because disposable cups link to most waste in landfills. Yet, biodegradable paper cups may not be responsible for the current pollution.
Most waste comes from traditional coffee cups. The cups were hard to recycle or degrade. The coffee cups also comprised polyethene and styrene. As mentioned earlier, styrene and plastics take hundreds of years to degrade.
Biodegradable paper cups comprise wood and a bio-plastics film that degrade faster. The material used in the bio-paper cup absolves it from many waste increasing claims.
PLA Biodegradable Paper Cups are also Compostable
Is Biodegradable, Compostable ?
Sometimes manufacturers may label compostable products as biodegradable. This increases the confusion on green products. What you need to know is compostable items are different from biodegradable.
Here’s the tricky part. Compostable items are biodegradable. But not all biodegradable products are compostable.
Compostable manufacturing ensures decay in a composting environment. With the right composting settings, the compostable items deteriorate faster than biodegradable items. They can take around 90 days, and they transform into humus which is a healthy soil nutrient.
Compostable vs. Biodegradable
Both compostable and biodegradable items need controlled environments to clear from the environment. If you don’t recycle them, biodegradable items need unique settings to degrade.
The advantage of compostable items is they are cheaper and comfortable to dispose of. PLA biodegradable paper cups fit in as compostable and biodegradable. The twofold feature allows them to match the ethos of green businesses.
You can compost them or take them to an appropriate recycling facility. This gives you the convenience and the autonomy of deciding what to with your paper cup wastes.
But as a business owner, the variables present you with a dilemma when buying coffee cups. Your supplier needs to communicate what they mean when using the term “biodegradable”.
Your best bet is a manufacturer who educates you how to dispose of their used products.
Is the Manufacturing of Biodegradable Paper Cups Sustainable?
The life cycle of a product starts at manufacturing and ends at disposal. The process of producing and disposing of a product affects its sustainability worth.
Sustainable products use environmentally friendly materials. They emit less carbon and use the least energy in production. After disposal, they create less waste and zero toxicity on the environment.
The big question is whether biodegradable paper cups meet the cited sustainability metrics. Well, biodegradable paper cups derive from natural materials that guarantee consumption safety.
Besides, the materials come with an extra benefit of limitless supply. This ensures faster restoration of the environment after the harvesting of raw materials. In business, the coffee cups guarantee consistent service to the customers.
Harvesting raw-materials such as sugar cane spends less cost and energy. Unlike plastics, producing PLA uses lesser energy and causes fewer emissions.
Even at the factory level, paper cups continue to display their positive credentials. In essence, processing paper cups focuses on delivering a healthy product to the public.
Responsible production of paper cups entails the use of flawless ingredients. From bonding to printing the bio paper cup is well thought of process focused on purity.
Sometimes Biodegradable Paper Cups aren’t 100% Flawless
No matter the greatness of a product, there’s always a downside to worry about. Biodegradable paper cups can also have their dark side. One, there’s no guarantee your coffee cup comes from sustainable forests unless you buy from a credible manufacturer.
Also, if you’re recycling the coffee cups, you must ensure you dispose them of in designated bins. In case, the bio-paper cups end in landfills they can also take some time to degrade. Remember, landfills lack the optimal conditions necessary for fastening break down.
Why Biodegradable Paper Cups Matter for Your Business
Besides sustainability, biodegradable paper cups are a multi-functional aesthetic for businesses. Given their appeal and limelight, you can use them for branding to boost your reputation. Branding messages on coffee cups are also more productive and score a higher ROI.
Are you ready to order biodegradable paper cups? Get your free quote or contact us for information on biodegradable coffee cups.