Compostable vs. PET Cups: Which To Choose?

As you look at your options for take-out cups for your restaurant or coffee shop, you may find yourself weighing the need for both environmental friendliness and performance. Two options that many businesses use to meet these business needs are compostable and PET cups.

Although these products may look similar, they have several unique differences. You can decide between using compostable or PET cups in your eatery as you learn more about them and their various advantages below.

Compostable Cups and Their Advantages

If you’re not familiar with compostable cups, these products feature polylactic acid instead of standard plastic. Manufacturers will produce this material using natural sources such as corn starch and sugarcane. Read on to discover why compostable cups are an attractive option for restaurateurs looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

These Cups Incorporate Renewable Resources

As we established, the material that companies use to make compostable cups comes from sources like sugarcane and starch. By purchasing these items for your restaurant, you will utilize products that incorporate renewable resources as opposed to the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) that manufacturers use in their PET cups. You can even market this fact to customers as an extra reason to support your business.

Compostable Cups Help Lower Carbon Emissions

Another benefit of buying compostable cups for your business is that you will support manufacturing processes that result in less pollution. When companies make PET cups, they ultimately release carbon emissions into the air. They also produce emissions when they extract fossil fuels.

However, when manufacturers make compostable cups, they use less energy and produce fewer emissions. Through your purchase of these cups, you could support these manufacturers as they lower their carbon footprints while reducing your own.

These Cups Are Biodegradable

Another key difference between compostable and PET cups is that the former is biodegradable, whereas the latter is not. When PET cups end up in a landfill, they can spend hundreds of years breaking down. Meanwhile, compostable products only need a few months to decompose.

That means if the compostable cup you sell to your customer ends up in a landfill, it won’t be there very long. In addition, when the cups end up at industrial composting facilities, they will provide nutrients to the land, truly benefiting the Earth.

PET Cups and Their Advantages

After examining compostable containers, we can now look at PET cups. As we established, these come from more conventional plastic and can result in more pollution in the manufacturing process. However, that does not mean that they don’t have advantages over compostable cups.

Customers Can Recycle PET Cups

Although PET cups are not biodegradable and will add to waste if they end up in a landfill, consumers can also toss them into a recycling bin. Once they arrive at a recycling plant, workers can put them through the recycling process, where they can find a second life as new cups, bottles, or fiber for clothes that you may be wearing right now. Usually, these cups can undergo this process several times before reaching the end of their usefulness.

It Is Easier To Send These Cups to Recycling Plants

Something else to think about before buying compostable or PET cups wholesale is how much easier it is for consumers to send PET products to recycling plants. If you sell compostable cups to your restaurant’s guests, they may not be able to find an industrial composting facility in their region.

That may result in the compostable cups ending up in a landfill, where they will not be able to fully benefit the Earth. Meanwhile, customers have far more widespread access to recycling plants. You may make a greater contribution to the environment by selling products that your guests can easily send in for recycling.

PET Cups Are More Durable

While compostable cups are sturdy enough to hold beverages for your clients, they also lack the greater strength and durability that PET cups offer. These cups are more resilient when holding colder beverages, and they also withstand bumps much better. This prevents the cups from cracking and leaking their contents on your customers while dining in your restaurant or carrying them while commuting.

The durability of the cups also gives customers the ability to reuse them, which is also environmentally beneficial. Instead of tossing them into the trash, your guests can take them home and use them as drinking cups or even containers for storage. For example, your customers may find them helpful for holding their markers, coins, or their favorite trinkets.

Common Benefits That Compostable and PET Cups Share

Although we’ve seen many differences between compostable and PET cups, there are multiple benefits that both products share. One is that restaurants and coffee shops can add their logos to the sides of both compostable and PET cups. This quality allows you to make these cups into mobile advertisements for your business as customers carry them down the street and enjoy them.

Another is that both cups incorporate clear plastic, putting your beverages on display for others to see. For example, when one of your employees mixes an iced coffee, both the compostable and PET cup will give the customer and their companions a clear view of that delicious drink.

They will be able to see the tantalizing iced mocha color of the beverage through each cup’s walls, as well as any tempting toppings, such as whipped cream, caramel, or chocolate syrup. Because others will see how tasty the beverage looks, they may step up to your counter and order one for themselves, which will bring profits to your eatery.

After learning more about compostable and PET cups and the various benefits that they can provide your restaurant or coffee shop, you can make the right decision for your business and its customers. Although some may prefer the eco-friendly advantages of the compostable container, others may weigh the extra benefits that the PET cups deliver to customers as far more valuable. Consider these options carefully and choose a product that better suits the needs of your establishment.