How to recycle a plastic cup?

Plastic waste is, very rightly so, one of the hot topics of recent times. People have begun to realise that recycling is no longer an option, but a necessity if we want to keep our landfills and oceans clean of plastic waste. Besides, recycling is a great opportunity to tap into unwanted plastic and turn it into a valuable resource.

So, how do you recycle a takeaway cup?

There are different types of takeaway cups – and some of them are much easier to recycle than others. For example, paper coffee cups are quite difficult to recycle because most of them have a very thin layer of plastic inside, to keep the liquid away from the paper. The lining is very difficult to separate from the paper, and unfortunately, not many recycling facilities are equipped to do so.

Plastic cups, in general, are much easier to recycle, but once again, it all depends on the type of plastic they are made off.

The most common types of plastic, used in the production of everyday items are:

1. PET – soft drinks and water bottles, cold drinks-to-go cups (eg. iced-coffee cups, beer cups, cocktail cups) SYMBOL: 1
2. HDPE – fresh milk bottles, shampoo bottles SYMBOL: 2
3. PVC – squeeze bottles SYMBOL: 3
4. LDPE – bin liners and bins SYMBOL: 4
5. PP – beer cups, yoghurt containers, meat, and poultry trays, ice-cream containers SYMBOL: 5
6. PS – yoghurt containers, plastic cutlery SYMBOL: 6
7. Other – all other plastic including biodegradable and compostable SYMBOL: 7

When you are done with your favourite iced Frappuccino, you don’t have to wash it – you just have to get rid of any leftover liquid, before you put your PET cup into the recycling bin. If there is a lid or a straw that you are using, please take them out and dispose of separately.

Once collected, the plastic cups are cleaned and melted into hard plastic that could be remoulded and/or granulated to make new recycled products.

Here at Amhil, we do everything to minimise the plastic waste going into landfills. Find out more about our COMMITMENT.