SINGLE-USE disposable coffee cups finally became recyclable in 2013, when Kendal-based paper making firm James Cropper unveiled a purpose-built reclaimed fibre facility – the first commercial processing plant in the world able to separate valuable pulp fibres from the polythene lining of billions of cups thrown away each year.

The british manufacturer now returns those fibres to the supply chain in coffee, a range of papers that demonstrate the highest standards in sustainable, luxury paper production, comprised of 50 per cent reclaimed fibres.

The range has been initially produced in six colours inspired by the skills of baristas and the alchemy of coffee making – latte, cappuccino, caramel, hazelnut, mocha and espresso.

Chris Brown, commercial director at James Cropper, said: “Disposable coffee cups were a problem for our industry and now we’ve turned them into an opportunity.

"Technology has moved on so that we can create new products using high-levels of reclaimed materials, which are indiscernible in their quality from papers that are made wholly from virgin fibres.

"Packaging manufacturers and suppliers are under increasing consumer pressure to prove they are responsible with natural resources, and the coffee range is just one of the ways in which our investment in new recycling processes makes it easier for them to respond to those demands, without compromising their products and brand values.”

Opened by the Queen, James Cropper’s reclaimed fibre facility based in Burneside is the result of a £5million investment and has been recognised by the paper industry as a landmark development in the progression of sustainable paper production.

The Luxepack in Green award was presented to James Cropper in October, 2013, in recognition of this contribution, and in the two years since opening, thousands of coffee cups and other food and drink packaging materials have been recycled to create new paper products.

Paper cups from McDonald’s restaurants are now being recycled at the Burneside mill’s reclaimed fibre facility in a scheme which has now been rolled out at 150 of the 1,250 McDonald’s restaurants across the UK. This will see previously non-recyclable cups turned into new paper products.