Detpak | Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations 2020
Challenge
Traditional hot and cold takeaway cups incorporate a difficult-to-remove polyethylene plastic liner. That liner is tightly bonded to the paper cup, which not only makes it waterproof and therefore capable of containing liquids, but also makes it impossible to recycle through standard paper processes.
Even ‘compostable’ takeaway cups are difficult to process in Australian due to a lack of suitable facilities — less than 1% make it into a commercial composting plant. Even if more did make it into processing, there is more value in creating an alternate use for the base paper product than to mulch it after a single use.
As a result, over 1 billion takeaway cups are sent to landfill in Australia each year, causing unnecessary waste management burden and effectively ending the life of valuable paper fibres which could be easily repurposed for an alternate use.
Solution
Detpak has been designing, manufacturing and supplying the foodservice industry with worldclass paper and cardboard packaging products
since 1948. In response to demand for a truly recyclable single-use cup, the company developed the RecycleMeTM System.
The RecycleMeTM System begins with a next-generation innovative mineral-based cup lining which is easier to remove during the recycling process. The cup is supported by an extensive collection and recycling network that guarantees collected cups are diverted from landfill across Australia, New Zealand and the UK and are recycled into new paper products.
The full-service system has been made simple for users: cups are captured in specially designed collection stations that sit front-of-house, consolidated in a back-of-house bin and picked up by one of Detpak’s collection partners.
Outcome
Since launching, RecycleMeTM has prevented 1,569,531 takeaway cups from being sent to landfill, finding an alternate use for paper fibre and saving 408 trees’ worth of paper from avoidable harvest.
Detpak’s RecycleMeTM was recognised at the 2019 Australasian Packaging Innovation and Design Awards. Hosted by the Australia Institute of Packaging, the awards acknowledge companies and individuals that make a significant difference to their industry through innovative design. The RecycleMeTM System was called out for its contribution to a circular economy in the Sustainable Packaging Design Special Award category.
RecycleMe™ is the only system of its kind to be endorsed by Planet Ark and recognised as providing a credible end-to-end solution for takeaway cup and lid disposal. Collection logistics are facilitated through industry partnerships with Shred-X and Parcel Point in Australia.