FAQ Plastic Free Cups
Are Leetha cups sustainable?
Leetha Cups are Sustainable.
1) Homecompostable 2)Recyclable 3) Repulpable 4) Biodegradable
what are the Various certificates Leetha Holds for the product
1) ASTM 6400
2) ASTM D5511
3) Food Safety Certificate TUV
4) Migration Test
5) Recycaliblity certificate
6) US FDA
7) IS 17088
Is Leetha Authorised to manufacture /Sell by CPCB in India
Yes Leetha Has CPCB approval and CIPET certification
what are the Various certificates Leetha Holds for the Manufacturing
1) BRC- A+
2) Social Auditing : Sedex 4 Pillar
3) ISO-9001-2015
Can Leetha Cups compost in garden soil? Can we see a visual demonstration?
Please see the link provided below.
Are Leetha Cups bad for fish and other marine life?
Please see the link provided below.
What is "Green washing"?
Check out the link below.
Are Leetha Cups recyclable?
Yes, Leetha Bio Cups are 100% recyclable. It can be directly fed into a pulper and used to make recycled paper.
Can LDPE, PLA, PBS, or green PE-coated paper cups also be recycled?
Specialized machinery is required to separate film from cup paper. Unfortunately, there are very few of these in the world, and almost 90% of used paper cups end up in landfills and are not recycled. That means LDPE cups cannot be recycled by most paper mills.
How can we check if the paper cup is indeed plastic-free?
Sealing Test
Only heat can be used to seal plastic materials.Both the substrates should have similar molecular properties. As such, a PE-lined cup can easily be heat sealed with a plastic film, whereas a plastic-free cup will not heat seal with a plastic film.
A demonstration of this test can be viewed below.
Burning Test
A plastic-lined cup, when burned, would emit an unpleasing smell, whereas a plastic-free cup would emit the natural smell of burning paper or wood.
Rub Test
Gently rub off the cellulose by applying a bit of moisture and exposing the plastic lining; a plastic-free cup will not have this lining.
Look at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgoSdnUKaiM&t=4s
Acid Test.
Acid will not dissolve plastics.
For acid testing methods, please check the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRy5PEmUfaE&t=5s
Dicloromethane test?
Leetha Dispersion coating dissolves in dicloromethane , It is widely used to find out to find fake
NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide )test?
NaOH is a wiidely used chemical In paper Industry for waste paper recycling and de-inking process , Leetha Dispersion coating gets dissolved in NaOH , NaOH is a chemical used in Soap as well ,
How are Leetha cups different from other so called compostable cups?
Most paper cups labelled as recyclable or compostable contain either a plastic, PLA, or PBS liner.
Plastic-coated cups (PE coated) are not compostable and cannot be easily recycled, while PLA, PBS, PBAT, or green PE-lined cups are biodegradable (under controlled conditions) and are rarely recycled. In most cases, they end up in landfills or are washed into waterbodies.
Leetha Bio Cups do not contain the typical plastic or PLA liner and are:
easily recyclable
home compostable
industrially compostable
biodegradable
Are Leetha Bio Cups compostable and biodegradable?
Yes, Leetha Bio Cups are biodegradable. As per ASTM D 5511 and ASTM 6400 Standard tests conducted on the cups by Intertek and ISO 17088, Leetha Bio Cups are biodegradable in an industrial composter and even in a home compost. That means it will be eaten up by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Certificates and test studies are available and could be sent on request.
So, does that mean you can throw a Leetha cup in your backyard and it will degrade naturally?
Yes, you can check out various videos on the video page.
Link Below
How can I tell if the cups are lined with PE/PlA/PBA/PBAT GPE or if they are leetha cups?
A simple test would prove the genuineness of the Leetha Cup (of course there could be fake ones claiming to be Bio Cups). Please check the video page or check the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgoSdnUKaiM&t=4s
How can I check if Leetha Cups are compostable in natural weather conditions?
Just bury it in your backyard, in a compost pile, or wherever you have moist Soil, and check after 30 to 60 days. You will hardly find any residue. As per international standards, a product is termed "biodegradable" if it degrades up to 90 percent in 6 months.
Are Leetha Cups food safe, and are there any certificates to prove the same?
Yes, Leetha Bio Cups are food safe, and migration testing conducted by internationally accredited agencies certifies the same.
Are Leetha Cups' coatings REACH and RoHS compliant?
Yes
Are Leetha Bio Cups Flourine-Free?
Yes its PFAS free
Are Leetha Cups microwaveable, and are there any certificates to prove the same?
Yes, Leetha Bio Cups are microwave safe, and migration tests conducted by internationally accredited agencies certify the same.
Leetha Cups can withstand what temperatures?
It can withstand temperatures of up to 100 degrees Celsius (typically, coffee is served at 70 degrees).
Does the cup require a composting facility? Does it have to be industrial composting or home composting?
Yes. It is home compostable and doesn't require an industrial composting facility. These cups are fully biodegradable in an open landfill as per ASTM 6400 by Intertek. The testing process is done with aerobic bacteria. (Aerobic bacteria are bacteria that use oxygen as an electron acceptor to break down organic compounds.) Our cups' biodegradation level was 91.85% on the 75th day.
How does it perform in an industrial composter?
It was also subjected to anaerobic bacteria testing according to ASTM D 5511 (anaerobic bacteria are bacteria that do not use oxygen as an electron acceptor to break down organic compounds; they generally use nitrates, iron sulfate, etc.). Our cups' biodegradation level was 74.8% on the 28th day and 94.01% on the 52nd day.
Are industrial composting facilities really a solution to the plastic menace?
The amount of energy required to run the industrial composting facility and the amount of carbon footprint generated during the biodegrading process in an industrial composter are greater than the energy required to manufacture LDPE-coated paper. That means running an industrial composter is just green washing, and recycling or natural biodegradation is the ideal solution.
How thick is this coating?
The coating thickness is under 2-3 grammes per square meter. This implies that the coating is less than 0.6 percent of a standard coffee cup.
How thick is plastic film (LPDE) in PE lined coated cup ?
Plastic film is usually laminated at 15 to 20 grammes per square meter.
What is so special about this dispersion coating that makes it compostable?
Most plastics and biodegradable plastics are complicated molecules; their molecular length and molecular weight are very high. Our dispersion coating molecule has a very low molecular length and weight, which makes it easier for microbes to feed on.
This is similar to the natural rubber molecule (polyisoprene C5-H8), which is naturally degradable. The water-based coating is made of pure acrylic dispersion.
Are Leetha cups ethelyne free?
Yes Leetha cups are free of polyolefin or any ethylene based water dispersion
What is the difference between compostability and biodegradability?
All that is biodegradable is not compostable, but all that is compostable is biodegradable as well. A product is termed biodegradable if it can be broken down in controlled conditions, like in industrial composting sites where a required quantity of heat (58 degrees centigrade) and moisture are continuously maintained.
Composting happens in natural weather conditions, like in a natural compost pile.
How is it different from other dispersion-coated paper cups?
Leetha has mastered the technology of achieving perfect barrier proofing and heat sealability with just 2 grammes of coating. Other dispersion-coated (aqueous-coated) cups mostly have a minimum 6–12 gramme coating that is almost like a film.
Can you say that Leetha Cups are 100% plastic-free?
Yes, these paper cups are "plastic-free," as they are made of cellulose and coated with acrylic.According to the PWM regulation (notification published in the Gazette of India, Part II, Section-3, Subsection (i)), New Delhi, 18th March 2016, as amended rules 2022), "plastic" means a material that contains as an essential ingredient a high polymer such as polyethylene terephthalate, high density polyethylene, vinyl, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene resins, and multi-materials such as acrylonitrile butadiene
Please see the link below for a notification from Gazatte.
Letha does not use any of these in the manufacture of paper cups.
PLEASE CONTACT US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: sales@leetha.com