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Simply Cups, Kings Hill, England, plans to extend its geographical footprint by launching its cup collection and recycling services into the Netherlands and Belgium on June 12, 2019. The company partnered with Product for Product, Purmerend, Netherlands, and Cupcare Company, Deventer, Netherlands, to offer opportunity for businesses to have their used beverage cups collected and recycled into new, functional products.
According to a news release from Simply Cups, it is estimated that 3 billion cups are used each year in the Netherlands and 1.5 billion cups per year in Belgium. While a number of cup recycling schemes already exist in these areas, none cover the entire Benelux region and not all have the technology to transform both paper and plastic cups into second-life, durable products.
“With more than a years’ planning invested into the launch of Simply Cups in the Netherlands and Belgium, we are highly confident that we have chosen the right partners and commercial approach to meet market needs. Consequently, we fully expect that the scheme will quickly become the region’s dominant cup recycling brand,” says Peter Goodwin, co-founder of Simply Cups. “At the official launch, in Eindhoven, at the beginning of June, we also expect to announce a number of major customers, including leading retailers and large corporations. Furthermore, we will also launch our rCUP, the world’s first reusable cup made from used cups.”
Product for Product runs a variety of successful closed-loop recycling programs for clients throughout northern Europe, with particular expertise in turning segregated waste streams back into functional office supplies, paper products, packaging and interior fabrication.
“Over the last five years, Simply Cups has developed the most-trusted cup-recycling brand in the UK and Australian market,” says Frans van den Berge, director of Product for Product. “We are now excited to be able to bring their experience to the Benelux market as well as a unique range of cup collection bins, suitable for any location, and, most importantly, the know-how to create functional new products, made from used cups, that our clients can buy back and incorporate into their branded merchandise.”
Retour, managed by Cupcare Company, currently recycles more than 100 million plastic and paper cups per year from the Dutch market.
Martin Wernsen, founder and managing director of Cupcare Company, says, “The market particularly in Belgium, is crying out for a fresh approach to the tricky issue of cup recycling. Nothing explains the success of recycling schemes better than products, such as the rCUP, that are both made from the used materials and stimulates re-use. Demand for recycled products consequently drives up demand for the waste material which in turn stimulates businesses to try even harder to increase recycling rates.”
According to a news release from Simply Cups, the company is currently collecting more than 30 million cups annually from more than 100 businesses. It launched in the United Kingdom in 2014 and Australia in 2017, with plans to expand into Benelux, United Arab Emirates and the United States in 2019.
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