Philippine researchers did this fantastic work.
The problem with paper cups is they contain plastic too. The cups are being tagged as the “eco-friendly” alternative to single-use plastic cups. But they aren’t entirely paper. They have used plastic polyethylene as a lining to make the cup water-resistant.
The harsh truth is that those disposable coffee cups aren’t exactly biodegradable. As they get contaminated by the beverage they’re not easy to recycle either.
Pinyapel innovation is an award-winning innovation invented by researchers from the Philippines.
The different from regular paper cups to this is they don’t use any plastic and they don’t even need to cut trees to produce the material either since they use pineapple leaves.
Pinyapel is a wordplay based on the Filipino words “pinya” and “papel” which means “pineapple” and “paper.”
As several public and private organizations worked together until they finally perfected the material, the Pinyapel is a group effort.
The project’s completion was done with the contribution of people from the Cagayan De Oro Handmade Paper Crafts, Design Center of the Philippines (DCP), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Ideatechs Packaging Corporation, and Nature’s Fresh. The final results are been truly amazing.
The group was given the Wood Pencil Award during the D&AD Future Impact Awards held in New York.
Pinyapel is good for food packaging and decomposes quicker and it also decreases agricultural waste.
Maria Rita O. Matute, executive director of DCP explained in an interview with VICE that they are aiming for Pinyapel to “replace the takeaway/take-out food containers and have (it to) be part of the compost bin that can be used to re-fertilize the soil and make it richer.”
Pinyapel can also be used as paper bags, decors apart from cups and packaging.
We’ll hope that this great innovation will soon get used by more companies and establishments.