Facility arrangements, food safety, and the environmental performance of disposable and reusable cups

Conventional disposable cups, made of fossil-based plastic or paper with inner lining of fossil-based plastic, are typically associated with an unnecessary use of scarce resources and a superfluous production of waste. An alternative has become available in disposable cups from bio-based and biodegradable materials, so-called biocups, made from bioplastic or paper with inner lining of bioplastic. Many stakeholders consider disposable biocups as more environmental friendly than fossil-based disposable cups, though other stakeholders prefer reusable cups over disposable cups. Existing LCA studies show inconsistent and sometimes conflicting results, due to differences in used data and modeling choices, for LCA studies comparing different disposable cups and/or comparing disposable with reusable cups. This paper summarizes an LCA deliberately applying multiple inventory data sets and crediting principles for recycling in comparing disposable PolyStyrene (PS) cups with (1) disposable biocups of PolyLactic Acid (PLA) and paper lined with bioplastic, (2) handwashed and dishwashed reusable cups.