Paper cup recycling introduced in Spartanburg County, South Carolina

Earlier this month, Spartanburg County in South Carolina debuted paper cup recycling, the latest community in a broader regional initiative across the Carolinas to expand recycling programs by adding paper cups to the list of accepted materials.

The expansion was made possible through a partnership with the Falls Church, Virginia-based Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI).

Over the past several years, FPI has worked with material recovery facilities and paper mills in the Carolinas to add paper cups as an acceptable commodity for recycling programs, and in 2023, this multistate initiative officially launched, building on a commitment to paper cup recycling that FPI says has seen more recovered fiber consumers and facilities come aboard as the viability of the material is more broadly accepted.

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More than 125,000 residents throughout Spartanburg County now are able to recycle a wider range of foodservice items, including paper and plastic cups and containers, clean and empty pizza boxes, paper bags and aluminum foil packaging.

“We’re proud to expand our recycling program to include paper cups,” says Travis Brown, Director of Public Works for Spartanburg County. “This adds a valuable material to our recycling stream and provides residents with a simple way to reduce waste and contribute to a more sustainable community.”

Spartanburg County launched an educational campaign April 16 to raise awareness about the inclusion of paper cups in the local recycling program and inform residents of best practices. This includes emptying any liquid, tossing the lid in the trash and recycling the clean and empty cup in one of 17 recycling drop-off locations located throughout the county.

The campaign also features a revamped recycling flyer, new signs at recycling drop-off locations, social media posts, video animations and digital ads.

Once collected, paper cups are sent to various local recycling facilities in South Carolina for processing, including Sonoco Recycling in Spartanburg, Pratt Recycling in Duncan and Canusa Hershman in Wellford. Once sorted and baled, the recovered fiber is sent to the Sonoco paper mill in Hartsville, South Carolina.

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“We’ve been working with communities across the Carolinas to expand paper cup recycling, and we’re excited to see Spartanburg County become the first in South Carolina to take this step,” FPI President Natha Dempsey says. “This partnership is an important milestone in our efforts to increase the recovery of foodservice packaging and make recycling more accessible to residents. Spartanburg County’s leadership in this initiative sets a great example for other communities to follow.”