Posted on 10/29/2018 7:47:34 AM PDT by reaganaut1
The growing backlash against plastic waste has a new target: paper coffee cups.
Paper cups sourced from sustainable forests have for years been hailed as a more environmentally friendly option than plastic foam, with Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. and McDonald’s Corp. recently pledging to switch to paper.
But paper cups are attracting new scrutiny, because they contain a tightly bonded plastic lining that needs to be separated before the paper can be recycled. The process requires specialist facilities, meaning most cups, even if put in the recycling bin, end up as trash. The issue is gaining attention as consumer awareness rises about how plastic water bottles, bags, straws and other products used just once before being thrown away are ending up in oceans and hurting the environment.
The makers of paper cups defend their products, saying the focus should be on ensuring they are properly recycled. The cups must be collected separately so they can be trucked to facilities that have the ability to separate the lining from the paper.
“There is the capability to recycle a paper cup in its current form; it’s just getting the product to our paper mills that’s the challenge,” said Stefan Pryor, market sector manager for U.K. paper mill James Cropper PLC.
Still, the pushback against paper cups has grown, especially in Europe. Starbucks this summer started charging a five pence (7 cent) levy for paper cups in the U.K., a world first for the chain. British lawmakers this year suggested a levy on disposable coffee cups or even an outright ban in the next five years if recycling targets can’t be met. A new report published Monday is by European trade body, the Paper Cup Recovery & Recycling Group, says just one in 25 paper cups is recycled in the U.K.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I dont drink coffee never have. I laugh when all the fools, including my daughter waste time and money waiting on line for Starbucks and Dunkin for overpriced drinks. Even a Kerig not good enough.
Circle K has replaced the Valero Corner Store paper cups, which were double-walled and worked beautifully without corrugated sleeves, with flimsy foam cups. One of those new cups collapsed in my hand, spilling scalding coffee all over my forearm, about 2 weeks ago. The new cups are crap. They’ve brought the old ones back, but “only until we use them up”, according to the Circle K employee I spoke with.
Valero, I sure wish you hadn’t sold off the Corner Store division...
I dont drink coffee never have. I laugh when all the fools, including my daughter waste time and money waiting on line for Starbucks and Dunkin for overpriced drinks. Even a Kerig not good enough.
“I dont drink coffee never have. I laugh when all the fools, including my daughter waste time and money waiting on line for Starbucks and Dunkin for overpriced drinks
That’s EXACTLY how I feel about people who waste their money on beer and wine.
.
Plastics have been known to cause early puberty in girls. Was told that by an endocrinologist years ago. We listened and followed his advice along with hormone free foods. It worked. They thought my daughter would be 4 ft 10 with early puberty. She is 5 ft 6.
Exactly. 8 bucks for a glass of wine or beer in a bar?
Most of the time, we use our insulated mugs for both hot and cold beverages.
When they came for the straws, I said nothing because I wasn’t a straw ...
You said in post 5, “I have no doubt in my mind that the majority of endocrine disorders we are dealing with today are a direct result of plastics in the food chain.
I replied in post 23, “Since there is absolutely no corroborating evidence of that from any credible scientific studies, there is no doubt in my mind that you have an irrational fear of plastic products.”
I did not say that no plastics had been produced which were not toxic to people, plants and animals. Some plastics are produced or treated specifically to be harmful to certain organisms. But there is NO EVIDENCE scientific or otherwise that plastic products in the “food chain” are responsible for the “majority of endocrine disorders we are dealing with today”. That is clearly an irrational belief from a person who is clearly demonstrating only that he or she is an irrational person. All the name calling only adds further evidence to this assessment.
Plastic is a descriptive term to describe the properties of a vast variety of compounds many of which have no chemical relationship to one another. If you are going to make such a broad condemnation you had best be much more specific as to which plastic products that you are referring to.
Are you fearful of the plastic that is designed to be used as digestible capsules for delivering medicine. Are you fearful of plastic products designed to be nontoxic in microwave ovens? Are you fearful of the plastic that was used to make the keyboard you are typing nasty messages to me on. You do realize that a small amount of the plastic on your keyboard is rubbing off on your fingers and making its way into your digestive system don't you? And what about the plastic gloves that people use to keep themselves safe from cleaning products, grease and paint, etc... Are you afraid of them? Are you afraid of the powdered plastic products used to make those gloves easier to put on and take off?
I spent many years in charge of a large hazmat team and I spent many years giving reasoned and educated explanations to people who were fearful of basically everything. There is risk in everything, no substance, no product, no chemical, even drinking too much water under the right conditions can kill you. There is no room in a rational debate about the safety of specific plastics for people such as yourself who have absolutely no understanding of actual risk and how it relates to everyday substances in minute quantities. You and people like you are responsible for regulations that do nothing but shut down innovation. So excuse me for making this assessment of you... You are irrational and you do not know what you are talking about.
I get my beans from these folks and run it through a Kerig. It’s even better through a French press.
I talked with an immigrant from the old USSR who said they had vending machines that sold sweet tea. In lieu of paper cups, they had a tin cup hanging from a chain.
A French press is the best. I like the smell of coffee roasting. Just not the taste
Kerig is for immediate gratification.
Or, have Starf*ucks put the hot coffee in the palm of your hands. No waste to recycle at all!
That will wake you up, if nothing else!
“Then he said that anyone who wanted to use his mug was free to do so.”
So how did that work out for him?
Did that limit his chances for promotion?
Did he live happily ever after?
“...in my mind...” Oh. That settles it then.
Most of comes from Asia. Almost none from us.
He was an older guy who was a driver. He had no desire or chance of becoming an officer before retiring. I wasn't in the group he pulled his stunt in front of, but it happened while I was employed by the fire department. There is a saying telegraph, telephone, tell a fireman. There was no one on the department who hadn't heard about it by the next day. He didn't get in any serous trouble and no one ever used his mug again. So I guess you could say he lived happily ever after.
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