SOCIAL ISSUE
DISPOSABLE CUPS POLLUTION
paper cups
styrofoam cups
plastic cups
WASTE OF RAW MATERIALS
A huge amount of energy, water, paper and more raw materials are needed to produce disposable cups, especially paper cups. Contrary to popular belief, paper cups is the least Eco-friendly among the three (Styrofoam, paper, plastic), as it requires the most energy and water. Many paper cups are made of virgin paper pulp, which comes entirely from tree pulp (food-grade). Machines used to create paper cups also consume lots of energy as they run 24 hours a day. Although paper is only biodegradable material among the three, it shows many trees are being felled to produce items for one-time use.​
On top of that, though they are made largely of paper, these disposable cups are lined with plastic, which is tightly bonded to the paper to make the cups waterproof for them to contain liquid. Only less than 10% of paper mills in Asia are able to process them, and none of them is in Singapore. In addition, the difficulty of recycling these disposable drink cups is increased by the fact they are contaminated with the drinks
POLLUTION
(LAND, AIR, WATER)
Half a million cups are littered every day and it pollutes the environment. When non-biodegradable cups (styrofoam and plastic) get thrown away into the seas or land, it takes more than decades to decompose. For instance, plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose while styrofoam takes millions. Styrofoam easily breaks into small bits. Small land and aquatic animals eating these pieces die due to toxins and blockage of their stomachs leading to starvation, which is one of the main debris that contributes to marine pollution When these cups are burnt for energy or for disposal, it is released into the environment leading to air pollution.
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Many types of reusable cups have been created in the market to encourage use. Surprising, cafes like Starbucks also offers a $0.50 discount if consumers bring their own cups. Ranging from collapsible, small, thermos, stylish ones, people are still using disposable cups for the sake of convenience, price and quality (survey findings).
real life snapshots of disposable cups users
These are some real-life snapshots taken and screenshoted by some of our team. which shows that people still prefer disposable cups over reusable ones.
