Disposable cup

A disposable paper cup

Disposable plastic cups

A disposable foam cup containing coffee

A disposable cup is a type of disposable tableware and disposable food packaging. Disposable cup types include paper cups, plastic cups and foam cups. Expanded polystyrene is used to manufacture foam cups, and polypropylene is used to manufacture plastic cups.

As they are produced for single use, disposable cups and other similar disposable products constitute a major source of consumer and household waste, such as paper waste and plastic waste. It has been estimated that the average household discards around 70 disposable cups every year.

US consumption is some 108 billion cups per year, the UK uses an estimated 2.5 billion paper cups every year.

History

The disposable cone-shaped paper cup was invented in 1908 by Lawrence Luellen, and in 1912 Luellen and Hugh Moore began marketing the Health Kup, another paper disposable cup. The Health Kup was designed to create a means for people to drink water from public water barrels without spreading germs, which occurred when people would use a dipper or their own cup to hold the water. The Health Kup was later renamed to Dixie Cup, and was named after a brand of dolls. Luellen and Moore later developed a disposable paper ice cream cup, which included lids with images of sportspeople, movie stars and animals.

Commercial uses

Some companies, such as coffee retailers and doughnut shops, sell their products in disposable cups. A 2011 book estimated that a chain of doughnut shops used one billion disposable coffee cups in a year, enough to circle the Earth twice. A 2012 article in OnEarth said that Starbucks used over four billion disposable coffee cups in 2011. The Cup Noodles brand of instant noodles uses expanded polystyrene foam cups to contain the product. Hot or boiling water is added to the dried noodles in the container, which cooks the product in a few minutes. Nissin Foods began marketing the product in foam cups in the early 1970s.

Pollution

The manufacturing of paper cups contributes to water pollution when chemicals such as chlorine, chlorine dioxide and reduced sulfides enter waterways. The manufacturing of foam cups contributes to air pollution when pentane is released into the air.

Recycling and other environmental measures

The curbside recycling of polypropylene containers has slowly increased in some developed countries, but is still rather limited.

McDonalds switched from foam cups to paper cups in 2014, and is moving to recycle paper cups in the UK, as of 2016, in partnership with Simply Cups and James Cropper.

See also

• Disposable cutlery
• Disposable food packaging
• Throw-away society

Further reading

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