By reusing coffee cups instead of using disposable ones, typically made of paper lined with plastic, it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of waste and reduce the environmental pollution. In fact, globally more than 250 billion cups are produced every year!
Although there may be an initial investment in purchasing a reusable cup, over time it will become clear the saving by avoiding the purchase of disposable cups for the daily coffee.
Here some key recommendation regarding the different kind of chosen materials:​
Plastic​: Reusable cups made from plastic should be designed to last, manage heat transference, and include key messaging around the life cycle benefits and recoverability of the material.​
Stainless Steel​: Leverage the benefits of this robust and desirable cup material, while balancing the tradeoffs associated with sourcing and cost.​
Glass (borosilicate)​: Find materials that have similar aesthetics to glass but are more durable and recoverable.​
Ceramic​: Perform further operational tests to find breakpoints for this material in order to determine which, if any, environments reusable ceramics are suitable for.