The largest network of coffee houses Dunkin ‘Donuts announced plans to 2020 to abandon the polystyrene cups in favor of paper cups with double walls, TASS informs.

The innovation will eliminate from the annual volume of waste 1 billion plastic cups. The new coffee containers will be made from cardboard, certified according to the SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative). As the company promises, they will not heat up, and to keep them, you will not need a cuff. Manufacturers will leave familiar to customers cover, allowing you to close the drink. Customers will be able to buy the usual types of coffee from the Dunkin ‘Donuts menu in four standard sizes – from small to very large.

“Our decision to abandon styrofoam cups is significant for the industry and for our brand, which owns more than 9,000 coffee houses in the US We are implementing commitments to improve the packaging so as to simultaneously make it more environmentally friendly and meet the expectations of customers,” said Karen Raskopf, department of communications and direction of sustainable development of the company.

In mid-January, new cups appeared in the coffee house in the historic homeland of the brand in the city of Quincy (Massachusetts, USA). By the spring of this year, it is planned to introduce an innovation in coffee shops in New York and California. Step by step, all the US coffee shops will change as production capacities increase.

To transition to eco-cups the company prepared for seven years. In 2011, the network announced plans to find an eco-sustainable alternative to disposable cups. Since 2005, the brand has implemented a number of initiatives to modernize packaging materials. The company has moved to processing materials in almost all types of packaging – cuffs for glasses, espresso filters, coffee stands, donut bags. Also, artificial colors were removed from the menu, the company started construction of energy efficient cafes and moved to certified brands of coffee in cooperation with the non-governmental organization The Rainforest Alliance.

Earlier it was reported that in 2016 the French authorities passed a law banning the use of disposable plastic utensils. The law will come into force from 2020. By that time, stores should be able to sell all the stocks, and manufacturers – to re-equip factories for the release of dishes from materials that are biodegradable.