Printed Eco Pint Cups and Glasses

There is more choice for pints and halves than for any other glass type. Cupcoms offers sixteen different types of pint glass made from six different materials. So where to start?

A pint glass made from blown Tritan - best of the best.

A pint glass made from polycarbonate - the standard go-to material for unbreakables.

A reusable pint cup made from polypropylene.

A plastic-free paper pint cup.

A pint and half made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET)

A pint cup made from 'compostable' plant-derived plastic.

You want eco

The most environmentally friendly pint glass will not always be the same. It will depend on the location: Is it possible to wash, store and reuse the cups? is recycling is taking place? Read more in our article about materials HERE. But in summary, our advice is: Select reusable pint glasses if where possible. If you cannot reuse, recycle. If you cannot recycle, go for a plant derived ‘compostable’ material.

You want reusable

Cupcoms supply reusable pint glasses made from polypropylene, polycarbonate and Tritan. Sometimes it is simply the amount of material used to make the cup (the weight) that defines whether a cup is reusable and how many times it can be washed. For example, the full colour branded event cups Cupcoms supply are made from the same polypropylene that inexpensive flexy cups are made of. It is just the weight that gives the event cup its longevity. These reusable event pints can be washed many times but will eventually start to look a little tired. A step up from polypropylene is polycarbonate, which unlike polypropylene is a clear plastic. The quality (and price) of a polycarbonate pint will vary according to its weight: We offer polycarbonate pint glasses at weights between 60g and 250g and it can make a big difference to the experience. The best unbreakable pint glasses are made from Tritan, a BPA-free co-polyester that can sometime include some recycled content. Tritan pint glasses are amazingly glass-like and look better for longer than any other.

Tritan stemmed beer glass example

Polycarbonate pint glass example

Reusable full colour event pint cup example

You want inexpensive

Polypropylene gets you the most plastic pint cups for your money. Also known as ‘flexy cups’, polypropylene plastic cups can easily be recycled. However, because polypropylene pint cups usually do not contain any recycled material, the Plastic Packaging Tax now gives polypropylene pints price parity with rPET pints.

Printed polypropylene pint cup example

Printed flexy pint cup example

rPET cups can be 360 degree printed in 8 colours.

Printed rPET cups can be made using 100% recycled material.

You want recycled

PET plastic (bottle plastic) is the most commonly recycled plastic. When the pint cups contain recycled PET, they are known as rPET pints. We champion rPET pints because they keep plastic out of landfill, preserve energy and reduce pollution. Buying them generates demand for more recycling. Cupcoms offers rPET pints and halves made with 30-100% recycled PET.

You want biodegradable

Some suppliers claim their new miracle material pint glasses will 'biodegrade' like a discarded apple core…disappearing as if by magic. We strongly advise against these ‘litterable’ plastics. If can get past the tsunami of greenwash, you will find that these cups are made from regular plastic with additives that make the cup break down in to irrecoverable pollution. In our opinion, they do more harm than good. For more information, please read our post on materials HERE.

You want paper

Paper pint cups have many benefits. Although you can't see the colour of the beer, this is offset by big, bright, full colour prints. Being plant derived, paper is sustainable and naturally compostable. But did you know that most paper cups are still made watertight with plastic? This makes them a mixed material and very difficult to recycle outside of a proprietary scheme. Additionally, is the board stock made from a sustainable source? Is it a Trading -Standards approved measure. There are a few things to check.

Example paper cup

You want compostable

Compostable plastic pint cups are made from polymers derived from plants rather than oil. Their advantage is that, if they are going in to black bin bags (i.e. not being recycled), the cups are at least made from a sustainable source. There is much green-tinted marketing that refers to their compostability and the standard EN13432 that they comply with, but this is misleading. This standard refers to industrial compostability. At home, as litter or in the sea, these plastics will never compost. They should not be littered. Nor should they be recycled. However, they do have their place in the toolbox of options.

Compostable cup example