As you go down your supermarket aisle, to pick up your favorite oat yogurt from Chobani later this year, you will be pleasantly surprised to see that the company has packed its oat yogurt in paper cups with a thin plastic lining. The company has developed these cups to replace the traditional plastic ones that are currently in use.
On Thursday, Chobani said that its single serve Oat blend yogurts would soon become sustainable and discard their plastic packaging in favor of mixed packaged paper cups. However, other yogurt cups will remain in their plastic cups, in the near future.
Chobani already offers many of its products in paper based packaging that can be recycled. They include
- oat milk
- cold brew coffee
- coffee creamers.
However, it was challenging to produce a recyclable container that could hold yogurt. After two years of researching and development the company has launched an innovative paper cup with a thin plastic lining.
The company said that the paper cup is made of 80 percent paperboard that has been made using responsibly sourced and renewable material. Generally mixed material packaging is not recyclable but the company said it could be recycled, depending on where you live.
Chobani had said that the company was aware that the U.S. recycling system was different, state to state. The company wished that the new packaging would help raise awareness about the complexities of recycling. He said that they wanted to bring in “greater paper cycling capabilities” in the nation.
Beverage giants have been trying to reduce their plastic footprints but plastic lining materials to paper also adds to the challenge of recycling.
Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya said that although the paper cup was a step in the right direction, it was just the beginning.
In March 2020, Starbucks had said that it was changing the plastic liner in its paper cups with sustainable biodegradable ones. It tested the eco-friendly cups for a limited period of time in five cities.
Research and innovations have begun by several companies which are a good first step forward as excessive plastic use, especially in single use throwaway products, have clogged landfills and polluted oceans
