Simply Waste to reprocess paper cups at ACE UK

Simply Waste Solutions has announced that it will collect and supply used cups to the ACE UK recycling facility.

ACE UK has assessed the capability of this technology to process paper drinking cups and, through its partnership with the plant operator Sonoco Alcore, will be able to recycle cups, alongside cartons, into new paper products.

Simply Waste, the logistics arm of the Simply Cups paper cup recycling scheme, has been in discussions with ACE UK since 2014 to understand how to ensure cup material can meet all the plant’s infeed quality standards, by eliminating contaminants before the used material reaches the facility. Simply Waste Solutions is the only current supplier of used cups to the plant and offers the Simply Cups scheme access to this reprocessor as one of a number of recycling options.

James Capel, CEO and founder of Simply Waste, says, “This arrangement is the culmination of an initial discussion with ACE UK over two years ago. The process has not been easy, and challenges have needed to be overcome, but with advice from ACE UK we have developed a formula where we can now supply consistently high-quality, uncontaminated bulk-loads of used paper cups for reprocessing; a standard that no other waste management company has yet achieved on a consistent basis.

“Although every cup we’ve ever collected has been recycled into new products, the new processes that have been put into place, and the new opportunity to recycle at the ACE UK facility, will give added assurance to the growing number of Simply Cups’ members that the quality of their used cups now reaches the highest possible standards which will only make the recycling process more efficient.”

Mandy Kelly, ACE UK’s senior recycling manager, adds, “Our facility was designed to recycle food and drink cartons. As such paper cups can only be recycled as a limited percentage of the overall processing capacity and cartons will always  take precedence. In order to accept cups into the process we have had to set rigorous standards. Simply Waste has worked hard to hone its own processes to meet our rigorous requirements and quality standards, to successfully make cup recycling a reality at our facility.”