It is amazing how paper cups have become an integral part of today’s life. Everywhere you turn there is either someone holding it or one thrown in a garbage bin somewhere. Technology has helped in making this amazing product which leaves e to wonder how people used to operate when they had not yet been manufactured.
Paper cups are disposable and normally bough at cheap prices as compared to the other types of cups. They are made of paper and coated with wax. As we all know, paper is absorbent, the wax coating helps in preventing of leaks from the liquids inside the cup. These cups are used for hot beverages like coffee or cold drinks like coke. They come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Some have lids while others do not. In cases whereby people carry the drinks around, it is recommended you purchase paper cups with lids to avoid spillage as this can be messy and in case the drink is hot it can cause burns.
Not all paper cups are manufactured the same. It would have been awesome if they were recyclable but due to the wax or the polyethylene used for coating the paper, most of them do not decompose hence have to be burned in the incinerator. However some paper cups are manufactured differently. For example, the compostable paper cups. During the manufacture of these cups, a natural occurring starch is used instead of the polyethylene coating. This means that after use, given the right environmental conditions, it would be able decompose unlike the others.
As these cups are used for both cold and hot drinks, they cannot be manufactured the same. Most are the times when single wall paper cups are made for cold drinks. Double wall paper cups and ripple wall paper cups are manufactured to be a bit harder as they are more appropriate for hot beverages. This is so because the hand should be insulated against the heat and if a single wall paper cup is used for hot drinks; it would definitely burn the clients hand as it is light.
Basically, as it can be seen, manufacturing of paper cups is dependent on its use. The type of drink to be put in the cup determines the manufacturing process. Because most of this cups are not recyclable, it is highly recommended to burn them after use as this will reduce pollution and dirtying to the environment.