Paper Cup Acceptance at U.S. Mills Reaches New Milestone

Recycling Today (05/07/24) McNees, Marissa

As the demand for recovered fiber continues to grow nationwide, the NextGen Consortium has reported a "major milestone" in its efforts to further paper cup recycling. U.S. paper mills in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and elsewhere have announced they will now accept single-use polyethylene- (PE-) coated paper cups in bales of mixed paper or polycoat cartons and aseptic packaging. This brings the total number of North American mills accepting paper cups to over 40. Jeff Hilkert, vice president of paperboard sales at Greif Mill Group, comments, "Paper cups contain good fiber and are no more difficult to recycle than many of the other prominent packaging categories we see today." Historically, paper cups have been deemed unrecyclable due to their PE lining. The NextGen Consortium is a consortium managed by New York-based Closed Loop Partners that addresses single-use foodservice packaging, along with the Virginia-based Foodservice Packaging Institute.

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