Keep Cup - Green & Sustainable

Sustainability

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Sustainability Journey

As KeepCup spreads its global reach it is important to us that we remain mindful of our original goal, to stop using disposable cups. Part of that is applying disciplines and change to our product development and internal systems and processes. As any wise man or woman will tell you, it’s all about the journey. Here is ours…

KeepCup Facts
  1. There is enough plastic in 35 disposable cups and lids to make a large KeepCup.
  2. There is enough plastic in 32 disposable cups and lids to make a medium KeepCup.
  3. There is enough plastic in 28 disposable cups and lids to make a small KeepCup.
  4. There is enough plastic in 25 disposable cups and lids to make a XS KeepCup.
  5. We estimate the break even with disposable cups to be as low as 15 uses over the life cycle of the KeepCup including cleaning.
  6. KeepCups have been tested to 1000 uses by our industrial designers Cobalt Niche.
  7. Low embodied energy to manufacture.
  8. KeepCup users have diverted an estimated 30000 tonnes of disposable cup waste from landfill
  9. KeepCup users have stopped 70,000 trees being felled for paper pulp.
  10. International Paper estimates that in the United States alone over 58 billion disposable cups are discarded every year, the majority relegated to landfill.
Disposable Cup Facts
  • 500 billion disposable cups are manufactured globally every year; that’s about 75 disposable cups for every single person on the planet.
  • Half of the plastic used in the world today is for single use items.
  • On average, each disposable cup contains 5% of the raw materials involved in the process of making and delivering it.
  • In the United States alone, 58 billion disposable cups are thrown out annually, with the majority ending up in landfill; that is, 158 disposable cups for every US inhabitant.
  • The 500 billion disposable cups used in the world each year placed end to end could circumnavigate the earth 100 times.
  • World paper use has exploded by 400% in the last 40 years. Now nearly 4 billion trees or 35% of the total trees chopped down are used in paper industries on every continent.
  • 98 tonnes of resources are used to make 1 tonne of paper.
  • Globally, we go through about 300 million tons of paper each year. Most of that paper is made from virgin pulp.
  • Very little recycled paper is used to make disposable cups because of contamination concerns. Because most disposable cups are coated with plastic, both composting and recycling of disposable cups is uncommon.
  • Most of the world’s paper supply, in fact about 71%, still comes from diminishing forests, not tree farms or the recycling bin.
  • Urban rubbish has increased tenfold over the course of the twentieth century, from 92 to 1242 pounds of pure product waste per person per year. At this rate, we discard approximately 14.4 times our body weight in waste every year.
  • Taiwan discards 1.5 billion disposable cups annually. Landfill issues have given rise to new rules for establishments, to give discounts to all reusable cups. It is expected to produce a 30% reduction of disposable cup use annually, or 450 million cups, saving 110,000 trees and reducing carbon emissions by 15,000 metric tonnes.
  • The KeepCup compared to a disposable paper cup (including coffee) sees a: 36-47% reduction in global warming, 64-85% reduction in water use, 91-92% reduction in landfill waste annually