The PAPSTAR "cup" principle is based on a closed-loop system - below the individual steps with regard to sustainability.

Raw material: PLA (polylactide) is a material made from renewable, plant based raw materials (corn starch) that is completely biodegradable; in terms of their appearance, the cups can hardly be distinguished from conventional plastic cups, if at all.

Deposit system: In pilot projects, placing a deposit on the cups has proved to be very successful; in this way the used cups are returned to where they were filled and put into circulation (prevention of littering).

Roundtrip system: The used cups are taken back in the same way as they were delivered, i.e. in a cardboard box. This takes place in an environmentally-friendly round-trip system (outward and return loads, doing away with the need for additional journeys and with no unnecessary CO₂ emissions being produced).

Recycling and PLA granulate: Once sorted into boxes, the cups are transported to a nearby recycling plant in an equally logistically efficient manner; there, final sorting (to avoid any impurities) and cleaning take place - finally, the recovered PLA granulate can be reused to produce other bio-based plastics.