GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — On Tuesday, Nov 10, The Foodservice Packaging Institute and Kent County's Department of Public Works held an event at Sparrows Coffee Tea & Newstand on Wealthy Street to announce their acceptance of paper cups into curbside bins.
The item was previously not allowed due to the thin plastic lining most paper cups that paper mills would not buy from recycling process centers, but since then new processing technology has come along to help mold the plastic and paper portions into recyclable materials.
Kent County also got a new partnership to help them get the word out about their new recycling capabilities.
Ashley Elzinga was at Sparrows on behalf of the Foodservice Packaging Institute.
They work with many communities and partners across the country to get food packaging recycled.
"We get paper cups, plastic cups, plates, bowls, pizza boxes and everything in between, because food products are tricky since they usually have food on them and labeling from brands which lots of regular recycling vendors won't take," said Elzinga.
The Institute initially partnered with Kent County back in October 2019 to give them a communications grant to promote the acceptance of food service packaging, and paper cups was included in that.
Kent County's goal is to reduce landfill waste by 90% by 2030.
You can learn more about the new accepted items here.
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