Paper cups vs. Styrofoam: which is best to the environment?

If you guess that papercups are greener and environment-friendly than Styrofoam, you may probably be missing something. Some people think that paper cups are environment-friendly as they are recyclable, but this is not reality, some paper cups intended for hot beverages are not environment-friendly and recyclable. In this article, we will discuss a quick view of both: paper cups as well as Styrofoam.

Insulation: 

paper cups do not provide as insulation as Styrofoam does. Therefore, in terms of insulation, Styrofoam cups insulates better than paper cups. In order to test this, just fill up both cups with hot liquid, you will find that Styrofoam cups will be cool to touch while paper cups radiate the hot liquid inside out and are warmer to touch as compared to Styrofoam cups. The solution to this problem is, of course, you need to add more paper to your paper cups to avoid slippery warm beverage slip from your hand. The most common phenomenon observed is in coffee shops where added papers or hot-cup sleeves are made from recyclable material to handle these hot beverages.

Eco-friendly:

If you are planning to make choice among these two cups i.e. paper cups or Styrofoam cups in terms of eco-friendly, still Styrofoam wins. Unless you are using recyclable paper cups, there are still many things to consider. It takes around 17 to 20 years for paper cups to decompose inland environment. This happens due to the wax lining inside of these cups. Furthermore, it takes more energy, raw material, fuels consumption and energy to make paper cups as compared to Styrofoam cups which take less energy, fuel consumption and raw material during its formation. For instance, paper cups takes almost 36 times the amount of electricity, 12 times the amount of water and double the amount of cost to produce a pare cup as compared to Styrofoam cups.

Cost:

If we talk about the cost, still Styrofoam cups win it takes two and half the double amount of money to make a paper cup as compared to Styrofoam cup. Aside from the paper cups production, if we take into account the sleeves that are attached to handle the hot paper cup, raw material needs, energy needs as well as shipping needs, you will have to spend extra 2 to 3 cents per paper cups, which makes it further costlier as compared to Styrofoam cups.

In short, we can say that paper cups are double the amount costly than Styrofoam cups and they also require the cardboard sleeves to protect your fingertips. On the other hand, they are also eco-friendly and bio-degradable. Thus it's up to you to decide which one to choose from.