Espresso Syndicate, a company that supplies sustainable, organic fair trade coffee to cafes across Melbourne, Australia, has launched PLAnet Cup, a disposable, compostable coffee cup and lid that complements the company’s existing fair trade offering. The paper cup is lined with biodegradable polylactic acid, which is harvested from renewable resources and can be composted after use. Where forerunners have retained a plastic lid, the PLAnet Cup is entirely compostable, from the cup to the innovative bioplastic lid.

Espresso Syndicate owner Melissa Floreani developed the product after identifying a gap in the market. "As a coffee supplier, I was frustrated that I couldn't provide my customers with a genuinely eco-conscious disposable cup,” she says. “Modern consumers want to limit the impact that they are having on the world, but they want this to fit with their lifestyles too. With PLAnet Cup, cafes can provide their customers with an easy way to preserve their green conscience without sacrificing their treat-to-self.”

The PLAnet Cup has a lid made from biodegradable plant-derived material that is 100% compostable. The PLAnet Cup can be supplied to any cafe either preprinted with individual branding or as a white cup with minimal branding, accommodating the current trend for white cups with an ink logo stamp, the company says.

Steve Boyle, owner of Orange Café on Chapel St, Windsor (VIC), is currently using the PLAnet Cup. He notes, “Modern consumers genuinely care about the green credentials of the companies they buy from, and the PLAnet Cups we’re using have been received well by our customers. In my opinion, you can’t be a retailer today and not exhaust all eco platforms."