Sustainable beverage packaging is incredibly rare at quick-service restaurants (QSR), gas stations, and other regional coffee houses.
Forcing a change in these industries can be difficult, but more companies are rising to the challenge every day—trying to find ways to minimize their impact on the environment. And the Again! Cup® from Airlite provides us, our customers and their customers an amazing opportunity to work together and do just that.
The Big Problem
Every year, Americans use 120 Billion disposable, single-use coffee cups. When you combine that with the raw materials used in the lids, sleeves, and straws, these paper cups create over 2.2 billion pounds of waste a year.
Some people may assume that these cups are easily recycled. However, what makes these cups functional in the first place, is the plastic lining on the inside. It’s this lining, on top of the paper, that makes recycling these cups a challenge, and more often than not, cups like these end up in a landfill.
Our Sustainable Solution
At Airlite, we’re hyper-focused on helping minimize our impact on the environment. Our clients are the same way—continually looking for ways to make sustainable practices easier for them and their clientele.
Our Again! Cup® is a sustainable, BPA-Free, injection-molded drink cup that is ultra-durable, dishwasher-safe, and infinitely reusable.
But it’s not enough to be technically reusable; a cup like this needs to be something people like using and are happy to reuse. The Again! Cup® is a stylish cup that can be labeled using our The Look® printing method or branded with Airlite’s premium in-mold labeling to create a lasting brand impression.
Along with a premium look, the cool-touch ribbing surrounding the cup makes it easy and safe to grip without the need for single-use cardboard sleeves every time you order a coffee or tea.
On top of being reusable, the Again! Cup® is like all Airlite containers in that it is 100% recyclable. And it is also part of a growing list of Airlite products made using up to 50% FDA-approved, post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR).
This is big because only half of the product relies on virgin resin, with the rest coming from polypropylene that has already gone through the recycling stream. The Again! Cup® is a big step towards our goal of creating products made with a high-percentage or entirely from post-consumer recycled plastics.
Our Vision
Between our initial rollout of the Again! Cup® and today, the product’s relevance and potential have only grown. Our vision is to continue to expand the use of the Again! Cup® by partnering with organizations like Loop and providing our customers a cup that they could use to build their own reusability program around—a cup that can be cleaned, reused, and even distributed for resale over and over again.
We see an opportunity for local, regional, and national coffee shops, restaurants, and convenience stores to incentivize and reward the use of these safe-touch, premium-branded, and reusable cups.
Airlite is excited to work with our clients in these industries to customize an Again! Cup® that fits their business goals and helps reduce our collective impact on the environment.