The Good Cup: Turning the tide on plastic lids and PLA-lined beverage cups

In 2030, there will be more single use plastics in our oceans than fish, according to UNESCO. This sobering statistic highlights the pressing need for action and the UK Government has started to respond with timely legislation.

There is where The Good Cup® comes in.

Introducing The Good Cup® – time for change

The Cornish coastline conjures up images of sun kissed surfers, sandy beaches and picturesque rugged coastlines but under the idyllic surface, lies an ugly plastic underbelly. Every year, 10 million tons of plastic are dumped in these shores catastrophically impacting marine life. No More Lids’ Managing Director, Chris Brown has seen first-hand the plastic debris washed up on the golden sandy beaches, blighting the sea views.

For years Chris had been looking for an alternative to the destructive plastic cycle lids and greenwashed PLA lined cups as he explains, “No More lids have a simple mission and it’s right there in our name: we want to say No More Lids for the hospitality industry and beyond. We want to see the end of separate lids including plastic or bagasse paper lids and an end to plastic or PLA lined cups, which are difficult and cost prohibitive to be recycled or composted with over 97% ending up in landfill, taking over 200 years to decompose. We have now found the answer: we are proud to be the UK home of The Good Cup.”

From US Celebrity endorsement to cup revolutionThe actress-turned chat show legend Drew Barrymore famously featured The Good Cup on her daytime show last year, praising its foldable ingenuity. The design has already launched in the UK, Canada and Japan and is being trialled in Australia, with a launch date expected soon in the USA.

No More Lids was created when Chris discovered The Good Cup- invented by Cyril Drouet, an established packaging designer.

“The Good Cup is a cutting-edge design: the truly unique hot and cold drinks cup is both fully compostable, at home and industrially and is fully recyclable as paper with no specialist treatment or collection required. Even if the cup ends up in landfill by chance or accident, it will disintegrate without a trace and have zero negative impact on the planet within three to six months. The unique thing about the cup is it has an integrated folding lid, so we can make lids a thing of the past. It is so much more than a cup and is suitable for food use too!”

Here in the UK alone we use over 14 million single use cups per day - with the vast majority of them ending up in landfill or plaguing our coastlines.

“We aim to introduce the Good Cup to the UK hospitality industry. It is all very well people pointing out the issue but real sustainable change only occurs when a viable and accessible solution can be offered.”

Spotlight on The Good CupThe Good Cup is made from FSC paper board and uses a natural water-based lining called Aqueous – this simply means that it can be fully recycled up to seven times and still be classed as paper, which is the maximum recycling process possible.

There is a lot of current industry focus on emissions from freight transportation and the good news is that The Good Cup takes up 40% less packing space than standard cups and lids. This is due to its ingenious foldable design and when transported by sea freight, it still has less carbon footprint than cups created here in the UK.

The Good Cup is packed in cases of 1,000 cups, which means that it fits nicely into one box only, reducing shipping costs, which is welcome good news during the cost-of-living crisis. The cup uses 35% less energy to produce, making this the most sustainable coffee cup on the market.

For those independent coffee shops short on counter or storage space, the flat-packed, foldable designs take up minimal space, making busy workplaces with hot drinks safer too.

“The Good Cup is accessible on bulk price and is a real option for all businesses looking to save on money, space and the planet. The cup can be fully branded allowing people to take ownership and to shout loud and proud that they have made a positive change for the planet.”

“We haven’t reinvented the cup and how people drink, we have simply improved the drinking experience and done it in a way that can make a huge positive impact to our planet!”

Watershed moment for the hospitality industryMaking the transition to using The Good Cup instead of a cup and lid is a small change, with a monumental impact. It is an easy switch to make and for smaller businesses who can’t afford to install renewable energy just yet, this is a huge step in the right direction and signals to customers that your business is taking sustainability seriously.

No More Lids has already established a network of 25 resellers across the hospitality and packing industry, which is growing by the day including brand giants like AFL, Alliance, Catering24, and Swift Catering.

“One example close to home is Adrenalin Quarry in Cornwall. They have been working to become a plastic free destination for the past few years and made the switch from plastic lined cups and black plastic lids to The Good Cup, which was fully branded using their distinctive and vibrant Black and Yellow. They have removed 432kg of single use plastic from Cornwall, based on the plastic lid and plastic lining of their previous cups and in addition, saved 1cbm in storage space. It’s good news for sustainability too as they reduced their carbon footprint on delivery of the cups by 46% as we delivered 100 cases instead of the equivalent 300 cases (cups and lids). The Good Cup has now given them the final piece in the puzzle and we are so proud to have helped them complete that journey.”

Another local Cornish company: Kynance Cove: The Lizard moved to The Good Cup for all three sizes of cups and had a beautiful bespoke branded cup created for their main size 12oz. They ordered 120 cases of the Good Cup and have successfully removed 560kg of single use plastic from Cornwall, based on the plastic lid and PLA lining of their previous cups. The company also benefitted from saving 1.2cbm in storage space and reduced their carbon footprint on delivery of the cups by 51% as we delivered 120 cases instead of the equivalent 360 cases (cups and lids). By switching to The Good Cup, they removed 120,000PLA lined cups and plastic lids.”

The future of The Good CupNo More Lids is buzzing with plans for the future and is already working on variations of the current cup and have designed food container and 3D spout versions of the cup – opening up possibilities for other uses.

“We are in talks with numerous national and international brands and our goal is to help people make the switch and to reduce the huge volume of non-processable waste more and more. Every one million cups we switch will reduce the single use plastic waste by over 4 tonnes.”

See the official full video for No More Lids – home of the UK The Good Cup here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgtA8LLcx78&t=4s

For trade enquiries and more information, please see the website link below:https://nomorelids.com