What is the environmental impact from the non-reusable cups?
The new cups are made of bio-degradable materials such as sweet corn. The technical phrase is Polylactide, PLA, but basically you make porridge out of for instance sweet corn, wheat or potatoes and then add lactic acid. After a process that includes distillation and heating the fluid thickens and finally becomes completely solid. When the cup has been used you can do the reverse process, add some water and the material will dissolve into harmless lactic acid. We will obviously support the collection of used cups, e.g. through a deposit system.
