Compostable packaging means that when disposed of, the waste returns the nutrients to improve and fertilise soil.
Biodegradable materials reduce carbon emissions to the environment. Since most of them are made from natural materials, such as paper and sugarcane fibre, there is minimal usage of plastic materials which the manufacturing process tends to emit poisonous gases into the atmosphere.
The paper cups are made in Taiwan. The factory produces 170 million cups per month and is the third largest cup producer outside the USA.
Yes! All of the paper cups on this website are commercially compostable. The bioplastic/PLA lids (small, large) are also commercially compostable and will completely biodegrade inside 120 days, inside commercial compost facilities. Organic waste collection services are now available through Biopak's various collection partners at this web page.
Yes, contrary to popular belief they are recyclable in most council collections in Australia. If you would like to recycle them, we recommend rinsing them to remove any food waste/contamination, flatten them and dispose of them in your curbside recycling bin.
Modern landfills are designed to entomb municipal garbage rather than allow it to biodegrade. When paper products are disposed of to landfill rather than recycled, they can take as long as 40 years to biodegrade and when they do, they release methane gas. Methane is not good news for the environment. It has a lifespan 21 times longer than carbon dioxide. Australian households, on average, throw away 330kg of paper each, per year. Together, by recycling and reusing paper products we can make a drastic difference to the space needed for landfill and the emissions generated.
Ideally, any paper product that is not too soiled by food or other material should be recycled. If the material is too contaminated, then commercial composting is the best solution. Commercial composting captures the value in the raw material and its emissions allowing some of the value of the material to be retained.
BioPak understand that some of their cups will end up in landfill rather than getting recycled or composted, so they have undertaken carbon offset measures to adequately balance these emissions.
