Seven Eleven Introduces Industry-First 'Eco-Friendly Paper Ice Cup'

On the 5th, Seven Eleven will introduce ice cups made from eco-friendly paper instead of conventional plastic for the first time in the convenience store industry.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] Seven Eleven announced on the 5th that it will introduce eco-friendly paper ice cups made from paper instead of conventional plastic for the first time in the convenience store industry.

The base material for the paper ice cups is made from FSC-certified materials. FSC certification is an international certification system granted to paper and products made from forest resources harvested through responsible management for environmental conservation, based on 10 sustainable forest management principles covering environmental, economic, and social aspects. Made from 100% natural pulp with eco-friendly coating, the paper can be separated for recycling, achieving a recycling rate of 92%.

The paper ice cups also have durability comparable to regular plastic ice cups. The ‘Sol Coat’ coating material used in Seven Eleven’s paper ice cups has a moisture permeability rate over 30% lower than that of regular paper cups, providing excellent water resistance. Therefore, the physical properties hardly change even after a certain period of content preservation or temperature fluctuations.

The paper ice cup is the third-generation model of Seven Eleven’s eco-friendly ice cup operation policy. So far, Seven Eleven has developed its ice cups by applying eco-friendly elements. In July 2018, it became the first in the distribution industry to switch to transparent ice cups with a completely plain design to facilitate recycling of disposable ice cups, and in November last year, it changed to PET-A resin material with a superior recycling grade.

Seven Eleven plans to first launch the regular size (180g) and then expand to large size. Considering franchise stores’ existing inventory depletion, minimizing on-site confusion, and adaptation periods, the company will operate the current PET-A material ice cups in parallel for a while and encourage a full transition to paper ice cups. Once fully replaced with paper ice cups, it is expected to reduce up to 100 million plastic cups annually.

A Seven Eleven official said, “Ice cups are a representative convenience store product that records top sales every year due to their various uses,” adding, “The transition of convenience store ice cups to eco-friendly paper is an innovative ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practice, which will enhance the satisfaction of modern consumers living in the era of value consumption and positively contribute to our society’s plastic reduction issues.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.