TFC Recycling announces that residents throughout the Hampton Roads-Tidewater region can now recycle clean and dry paper cups along with other accepted foodservice items and packaging, such as paper bags, paper containers, drink carriers, and food and beverage cartons. This expansion offers 500,000 households the opportunity to recycle their clean and empty paper cups, keeping them out of landfills and allowing them to be converted into new products.
This initiative was made possible by a collaborative equipment grant from the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) and NextGen Consortium, which partially funded the installation of new AI optical sorting technology at TFC鈥檚 Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). With this technology in place, TFC Recycling joins a growing number of MRFs and communities adding paper cups to their residential recycling programs.
Residents throughout the Hampton Roads-Tidewater region can now recycle clean and dry paper cups along with other accepted foodservice items and packaging, such as paper bags, paper containers, drink carriers, and food and beverage cartons. 鈥淭FC Recycling is proud to expand and improve our recycling capabilities, giving our customers in the Hampton Roads region the opportunity to recycle paper cups,鈥� said Michael 鈥淩ecycle鈥� Benedetto, president and owner of TFC Recycling. 鈥淭his initiative aligns with our broader Smart Start Recycle Right campaign and our commitment to real recycling.鈥�
To support this effort, TFC Recycling will enhance its existing recovery and contamination reduction initiatives by incorporating education on paper cup recycling. A communications grant from FPI will fund this educational component, which will raise awareness about proper paper cup recycling practices, including emptying liquid, discarding lids in the trash, and ensuring cups are clean and empty before recycling.
鈥淏y expanding its paper cup recycling program, TFC Recycling is making a real impact in the Hampton Roads region,鈥� said Natha Dempsey, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. 鈥淩eaching half a million households is a significant step forward in recovering more paper cups and other foodservice packaging, and we hope this effort inspires other communities around the Tidewater area to follow suit.鈥�
Once collected, the paper cups are baled with other paper products and containers at TFC Recycling鈥檚 MRF in Chesapeake and sent to paper mills. The high-quality fiber is then used to produce new paper products, such as paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, and even new paper cups.