Jasper Coffee launches plastic-free takeaway coffee cup and lid

Melbourne-based specialty coffee roaster Jasper Coffee has launched plastic-free single-use coffee cups and lids in select locations.

With COVID-19 pushing many cafes to stop accepting reusable coffee cups, Jasper Coffee says the plastic-free cups offer Australian businesses and consumers a sustainable option for their takeaway coffees.

Jasper Coffee is certified as a B Corp, Organic, Carbon Neutral and Fairtrade. It says the introduction of the plastic free coffee cup is a natural progression in its sustainable journey.

“As an Australian owned business, we are conscious of the fragile thin layer of soil we have on our continent and the need to keep the soil healthy in order to provide healthy food for healthy people. The quality of soil, air, water and viability of people are the essence of this sustainability. That is why we have consciously considered these aspects in our business,” says Jasper Coffee Founder Wells Trenfield.

After extensive research into the recycling process of takeaway coffee cups and the use of plastic lining, Jasper Coffee set itself the task of seeking out an alternative material that was recyclable, compostable, and plastic free.

In comparison to coffee cups lined with plastic, Jasper Coffee’s new cup and lid will decompose in domestic and industrial facilities over just 105 days. It has also been specially designed to be recycled along with normal paper and
cardboard waste up to seven times before eventually making its way to landfill.

Jasper found the Finland-based Kotkamills, which produced a water-based dispersion coated barrier cardboard. This creates a water impervious inner layer, without changing the taste of the coffee.

It then consulted with its Indonesian-based manufacturer Glopac and Melbourne distributor Aberdeen Paper, over the course of 18 months to bring the finished cup to Australian shores.

“Jasper Coffee has had a long standing partnership with Aberdeen cup suppliers spanning from the mid 90s. This is a relationship where each party recognises the needs of business through reciprocal trust and honesty and sharing of the costs and rewards over the journey. In turn, Aberdeen has entrusted Alan Knights from Glopac of Indonesia as our cup manufacturer. This is because they integrate in the socially responsible way they treat their workers and the sustainability of the environment,” Wells says.

“This relationship extends further back in the production chain, to Kotkamills, who have provided diligent research into producing a new plastic free raw material that is from environmentally sustainable forest management and from the integrity of operating a business with respect for people and the planet. We are all aligned.”

Launching in eight coffee shops across Victoria and Queensland, Jasper Coffee says its plastic-free takeaway coffee cups are a huge step in the right direction to reduce the 2.7 million disposable coffee cups going to Australian
landfills every day.

Initial stockists include: