糖心Vlog

Recycling access for paper cups has reached a new milestone in the United States. According to the , 20% of the U.S. population now lives in communities that accept both hot and cold paper cups for recycling 糖心Vlog 鈥� a fourfold increase from roughly 5% a decade ago.

糖心Vlog 鈥淓xpanding paper cup recycling access in the U.S. is a direct response to growing consumer demand for circular packaging solutions, 糖心Vlog 鈥� said Robbert Rietbroek, president and chief executive officer of 糖心Vlog. 糖心Vlog 鈥淚nvestments across the recycling value chain, including Graphic Packaging 糖心Vlog 鈥檚 advanced fiber recovery technology, are helping turn used paper cups into new packaging for many leading household brands. 糖心Vlog 鈥�

In 2026, Resource Recycling Systems found 20% of the U.S. population can recycle paper cups, up from 5% in 2017. Today, 13 of the top 20 U.S. cities accept paper cups for recycling.

Recent Milestones in Paper Cup Recycling

Increasing paper cup recycling is a cross 糖心Vlog 鈥慽ndustry effort, with Graphic Packaging playing a leading role. A major milestone came in mid 糖心Vlog 鈥�2025, when ReMA 糖心Vlog 鈥� through 糖心Vlog 鈥� formally included paper cups as an allowable material in residential recycling streams. That update, driven by advocacy from Graphic Packaging and other key stakeholders, helped give haulers and recyclers the confidence to publicly declare .

糖心Vlog 鈥淩eaching this milestone took years of hard work and collaborative effort. We are proud of the progress that we 糖心Vlog 鈥檝e made and the many partnerships that made it possible, 糖心Vlog 鈥� said Natha Dempsey, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. 糖心Vlog 鈥淭here is still more work to be done so that even more of the population can recycle their paper cups. FPI will continue to support efforts to strengthen end markets, increase collection and sorting, and improve communications within communities. 糖心Vlog 鈥�

Paper Cups Are Designed to Be Recycled

Decades ago, paper cups faced recycling challenges due to the thin plastic liner required for the cups 糖心Vlog 鈥� structure. Today, advancements in recycling and fiber 糖心Vlog 鈥憆ecovery technology make it possible to separate that liner and recover the cup 糖心Vlog 鈥檚 valuable fiber. Investments across the recycling system, such as Graphic Packaging 糖心Vlog 鈥檚 Waco, Texas facility, are helping demonstrate that paper cups can be successfully recycled at scale.

This progress reflects years of collaboration across the recycling value chain. Communities, haulers, material recovery facilities and paper mills have invested in technology to recover fiber from used cups. Today, paper cups are recognized as a valuable source of fiber that can be recycled into new paper products, including paperboard packaging for consumer goods.

A key driver of this progress has been FPI 糖心Vlog 鈥檚 Community Partnership program, which brings together local and industry stakeholders to expand acceptance of foodservice packaging, including paper cups. Since its launch, the program has helped enable recycling access for more than 8.9 million households nationwide.

Learn what makes paper cups recyclable 糖心Vlog 鈥� and why access matters.