James Cropper is taking used coffee cups and turning them into high-end professional paper. By “CupCycling”, James Cropper has created the world’s first recycling process dedicated to upcycling take-away cups. As a result, they are helping to minimise waste by maximising recycling.
Video credit: James Cropper / YouTube
No Time Like the Present
According to the BBC, 99.75% of coffee cups are not recycled; it is therefore estimated that 2.5 billion take-away cups are thrown away each year in the UK. Astonishingly, if we do not start to make a change now it means that by 2030 these figures will have increased by one third – there will be a total of 6.3 million tons of plastic waste produced by the UK alone.
Take-away, Throw-away
James Cropper are aiming to reduce the aforementioned statistics. Through their CupCycling initiative they are saving take-away cups from filling our landfills and infiltrating our oceans by turning them into beautiful papers.
A Collaborative model
James Cropper is collaborating with supply chain partners and brands who care about the environment in the same way they do. Together, they have the capacity to recycle 500 million paper cups each year. However, the impact that this initiative has created is two-fold, not only is it making a difference today, but it is also creating a movement for the future that, they say, has the potential to revolutionise paper cup recycling forever.
This story shows how James Cropper supports Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption, specifically Target 12.5: “By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.”
About James Cropper
James Cropper create some of the world’s most technically advanced paper products, using materials from cotton and wood to carbon fibre. They have modernised paper to bring it to the cutting edge of performance.
Learn more about James Cropper and CupCycling
