I arrived at cabinet at Gateshead Civic Centre yesterday and discovered that the usual china cups for teas and coffee were nowhere to be seen. Instead, we were to use disposable paper cups that were "green" because they were "100% compostable". This is of course a factually accurate claim. Paper is compostable. Indeed, in my household, all waste paper either goes straight into the compost bin or is shredded and used for livestock bedding and then goes into the manure bin. Yet just because paper is compostable, does not mean it is green. Resources are required to produce it and paper production uses large amounts of chemicals and bleaches which can damage the environment. Resources are also required to dispose of single use paper cups though the plus point is that, when they are not dropped as litter or dumped in landfill, they can be burnt to produce a tiny amount of heat that can be converted into electricity.
The amount of resources used to manufacture, transport and reuse china cups across their lifetime is far less than those used to manufacture sufficient single use paper cups. A china cup can be used thousands of times. A paper cup is used once.
I had words with Martin Gannon, Leader of the Council, after the meeting and, to be fair to him, he was as surprised as I was to find the paper cups replacing the china ones. We are both hoping that the cups were used as a one-off simply because of a problem that will be resolved (eg a dish washer breaking down). If on the other hand this is a permanent change, I will be making a great deal of noise.
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