Did you know that worldwide, we use 300 billion plastic lids on our hot drinks? That’s right, lots of coffee – but also 1,500,000,000 kg of plastic.
Often the lids leak which can result in spills and sometimes even burns, but also the plastic in these lids is harmful to the environment – which means they are and are slated to be banned in the EU. However thanks to Swedish company UniCup Scandinavia AB, it won’t mean the end of your takeaway beverage – the company has created an entirely new bio-based lid made of spruce and pine. The “Liplid” is placed inside, rather than on, the cup, and improves the stability and drinking experience of on-the-go beverages.
The company founders, Lars Bendix and Håkan Löfholm, are not new to the food and drink industry, having developed for on-the-go food and beverages for more than 20 years.
They say over this time, they’ve seen first hand the challenges caused by plastic lids on beverage cups, and believe the plastic lids are neither functionally or environmentally the best solution, citing the fact that the lids are often hard to fit properly, they often create spills and leaks, and make hot drinks difficult to cool when sipping through the lids.
They set about finding a better solution, and their original idea, hatched and drawn up on a paper napkin by Lars and Håkan over a cup of coffee in Stockholm is now a real-life product designed to overcome these challenges.
“We have developed an environmentally friendly lid that sits inside the cup. This improves the cup’s stability and the overall drinking experience,” they say. “You drink from the rim of the cup instead of the lid, so you don’t burn yourself and it doesn’t taste like plastic or paper. The coffee tastes just like it does in your coffee cup at home.”
The lid is eco-friendly, 100% recyclable and provides excellent functionality. It is made from bio-based fiber material from Swedish raw materials: spruce and pine. Manufactured through a globally unique Dry Molded Fiber process, the lid is also extremely stable and sustainable. Due to the lid’s design, 25 percent less material is required for production.
“We are already seeing that there’s a large market for Liplid. We are in contact with major chains that are very interested in purchasing the lid,” says Jesper Berthold, CEO of UniCup Scandinavia AB, Liplid’s producer.
Liplid has been developed by UniCup Scandinavia AB in collaboration with the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE), and the new product will be manufactured in Sweden.
For additional information, please contact Jesper Berthold, CEO of UniCup Scandinavia AB, at jesper.berthold@liplid.com or visit the company website.
Be the first to comment