Smurfit Kappa equips Valpak with tailor-made cardboard bins for UK cup recycling
12 Dec 2023 --- Smurfit Kappa Leeds designed a freestanding cup recycling box for Valpak. The box has dividers to create nine internal compartments to stack the cups. The design includes a lid with holes that line up with each compartment and a separate layer pad so that when the box is filled, the layer pad can be clicked underneath the lid to seal the holes ready to be sent for recycling.
The paper-based packaging company also created a folder that all components would fit inside so that when the logistics company received an order, it could label up the package and send it out, eliminating any packing work to be carried out by a third party. The box can be recyclable via the paper and cardboard waste stream by a waste collector upon delivery of the full box.
Smurfit Kappa furthermore integrated a QR code that links back to the National Cup Recycling Scheme to make it simple for customers to arrange the box collection.
Designing cardboard disposals
Valpak was looking for a sustainable packaging solution that eliminated the need for packing by a third party. Valpak required a custom-designed box that enabled cups to be stacked inside for recycling. The brief included two different sizes, and Valpak also needed dividers to create cells for a specific number of cups inside the box.
Smurfit Kappa says the UK has sufficient PE-lined paper cup recycling capacity but cup collection remains challenging.“We’re delighted with the creative and clever design for the ‘Cup Box’ from Smurfit Kappa. The National Cup Recycling Scheme is excited about seeing it in situ within businesses being used to recycle cups,” says Sam Kinnear at Valpak.
“Our team and the packaging design team at Smurfit Kappa worked closely on the design of these cardboard disposal bins to ensure they were easy to unpackage and set up while being sturdy enough to hold the maximum capacity of cups to be couriered. There has been a lot of interest in the box, especially in office environments.”
Tackling recycling
Valpak’s brief centered around creating sustainable packaging in line with their planet-friendly ethos. In 2018, Valpak partnered with Costa Coffee to develop a new national initiative, The National Cup Recycling Scheme, which aims to increase the collection and recycling of paper cups across the UK.
The scheme sees retailers working together to create a streamlined system for collecting and recycling hot and cold paper cups — covering various beverages, from coffee to milkshakes.
In the UK, there are now sufficient recycling facilities accepting PE-lined paper cups to recycle every paper cup on the market (over 2.5 billion cups), says Smurfit Kappa. “The problem is managing how we collect the paper cups when, as an on-the-go item, they end up in a whole host of places such as train stations, universities, offices and domestic bins,” adds the company.
Aligning with The National Cup Recycling Scheme
The National Cup Recycling Scheme aims to make the collection of cups commercially attractive for waste collectors to include as part of their recycling offering to customers. The scheme collaborates with businesses across diverse sectors, tailoring cup recycling solutions encompassing internal education, strategic bin placement, consumer behavior change and engagement with waste collectors.
The National Cup Recycling Scheme wanted to create the Cup Box as a recycling solution for small to medium-sized businesses across the UK. The box’s main purpose was to facilitate the recycling of these cups, but Valpak also wanted to use the opportunity to ensure the new packaging aligned with the National Cup Recycling Scheme’s branding to help raise customer awareness.
Valpak approached Smurfit Kappa Leeds with this “unique” cardboard disposal bin task. With their logistics company also keen to post the product straight out, this meant that a secondary product to house the cup recycling box components for transportation would need to make up part of the design.
By Natalie Schwertheim
