UK bioplastics manufacturer Biome Bioplastics (Southampton; www.biomebioplastics.com) has developed a new disposable coffee cup and lid made of an undisclosed plant-based material that it claims is “fully compostable and recyclable," while performing “as well as petroleum-based plastic under heat and stress.” According to CEO Paul Mines, the takeaway cup produced in the UK belongs to a range of biopolymers for coffee cups, lids and coffee pods based on natural and renewable resources including plant starches and tree by-products such as cellulose. These, he said, “enable retailers and packaging manufacturers to offer consumers a more sustainable option.”

While “coffee drinkers are acting in good faith when they see recycling logos on their takeaway coffees, most cups are lined with oil-based plastic and the lids made of polystyrene make recycling impossible, even when placed in the right bin,” Mines said. By contrast, the Biome cups and lids – the company did not disclose whether they are of the same material – are claimed to be suited for disposal either in a paper recycling stream or food waste stream. “In appropriate composting conditions our cups and lids will disappear to carbon dioxide and water within three months,” the CEO said.

Market research conducted for Biome Bioplastics by consumer insight company Vision One (London / UK; www.visionone.co.uk) is said to show that nearly two-thirds of consumers would prefer cup lids to be made sustainably, and 53% would be more likely to buy from shops using plant-based biodegradable cup products. As takeaway coffee cups come at too much of a cost to the environment, more than 60% think plant-based biodegradable plastics a better option than oil-based plastics.

The Southampton-based company said its “mission is to produce bioplastics to challenge the dominance of oil-based polymers, and ultimately replace them completely.” Biome’s range is said to be suitable for processing on existing packaging manufacturing equipment at high speed, by injection moulding, sheet extrusion for thermoforming and vacuum forming as well as blown films, lamination, extrusion coatings and monofilaments.