BrandBase Launches World’s First Plastic-free Compostable Cup

Jungle Cup® is the world’s first plastic-free disposable coffee cup that biodegrades in 12 weeks without industrial processing, introduced by BrandBase, a Dutch company.

“Jungle Cup® is a perfect solution for large and small companies around the world, that want to stop selling single-use coffee cups with plastic inner linings that are not biodegradable and nearly impossible to recycle,” said BrandBase in a statement.

Every year, an estimated 16 billion single-use paper coffee cups are used globally. All disposable cups currently on the market contain a thin plastic inner lining to prevent leaking. Because it is attached to the paper, this plastic lining makes disposable cups extremely difficult to recycle.

The Jungle Cup® replaces the plastic inner lining with a patented water-based thin membrane material that is ‘Flustix’ certified as plastic-free. It is also the only disposable cup in the world certified as ‘OK compost HOME,’ meaning it is biodegradable in a natural setting, such as a home compost heap. The Jungle Cup® helps combat the evils of ocean plastic.

The lids are made of an organic home compostable material called bagasse, which is a fibrous residue left over after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice.

After use, people can simply dispose of the Jungle Cup® in any compost bin and it starts to biodegrade in about 12 weeks. Bioplastic is believed to take approximately 1,500 years to biodegrade. And the polyethylene plastic liners of traditional disposable cups never disappears.

While many varieties of single-use cups on the market today are certified as industrially compostable, they are only biodegradable in unnatural conditions, including constant and very high temperatures. In practice, very few disposable cups ever make it to industrial processing plants.

BrandBase took up the challenge to launch the development of an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable cups that works just as well as cups made with plastic. Paul Alberts, founder of BrandBase: “This challenge meant creating a disposable cup that can handle both hot and cold beverages, that you can print on, and that doesn’t cost much more to produce. And we have succeeded. Our cups are available for € 0.03 each.”

For each Jungle Cup®, the Rainforest Trust receives a percentage of the proceeds to fund the protection of the world’s rainforests.

Paul Alberts: “To be precise, this amounts to 1m2 of rainforest being protected per cup sold. The task of protecting the rainforests and other threatened habitats is in the hands of the Rainforest Trust, an international organization that does this work across the world. In the last few months of 2020 alone, our contributions have helped the Rainforest Trust save more than 3 million m2 of the rainforest. Our aim for 2021 is more than 100 million m2. The biggest brands in the world really have no reason to continue using cups with plastic liners and lids.”