Materials: Brew

Cup

Tempered soda lime glass

Benefits

• Tempered glass is durable, dishwasher safe and can withstand high temperatures. All glass is breakable.
• Internal volumes replicate industry standard, for correct coffee to milk ratio and speed of service.
• Cup lip is designed for pleasurable drinking without the lid.
  

Product care

• Dishwasher safe, top rack.
• Microwave with lid off to a maximum temperature of 100 °C / 212 °F.
• Caution: Rapid temperature change or heating over 100 °C / 212 °F may cause the glass cup to shatter. You cannot heat liquids in the microwave above boiling point, or put a cold cup in boiling water or microwave
  

Material information
Soda lime glass is widely used for glass cups, bottles and containers. Our glass cups are manufactured in a machine blow-moulding line, which is standard for most commercial products. It delivers dimensional uniformity in diameter and lip, which is not consistently achievable using hand-blown glass production. Glass KeepCups are toughened by tempering, which is a process of extreme heating and rapid cooling. Due to the nature of glass as a material, it remains breakable but it's much more resistant to thermal shock and mechanical shock. It's also safer, as tempered glass beads when broken, making it less likely to cause injury.

Part manufacture
China

Manufacture waste
Glass rejected in manufacturing is collected and added back into the furnace. All glass products contain around 25% recycled content.

Assembly waste
Customer returns and reject parts from assembly are collected and sent to local commercial recycling. The glass is crushed and remade into either wine or beer bottles or used as a sand substitute for road base. Broken glass is not recyclable in most household waste collection because the type of glass it's made of cannot be clearly identified - glass made for mirrors, windshields, drink glassware and food containers are all produced using different chemicals and processes. To avoid material contamination, it will be sent to landfill.

End of life
If your glass cup breaks, please dispose of the pieces carefully in your glass-only recycle bin, or alternatively your rubbish bin to avoid collected material contamination.

Back to top

Band

Silicone (synthetic elastomer) #7

Benefits

• Silicone provides thermal insulation to protect touch. It's flexible, durable and non-porous, making it highly resistant to degradation.
• It also offers great non slip properties, so you can hold tight when drinking on the go.

Material information
Silicone is not a natural material, but a synthetic elastomer (soft plastic). While it is made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and silicon – which comes from silica and is derived from sand, the silicone manufacture process involves extracting silicon from silica, passing it through hydrocarbons (fossil fuels) then mixing with other chemicals. 

Part manufacture
China

Manufacture waste
Reject stock at point of manufacture is desiccated and made into silicone oil, which is used in a wide range of industrial applications.

Assembly waste and customer returns
We collect any reject stock, misprints and customer returns. We are storing these in Australia and the UK whilst we search for a local solution.

End of life
Silicone requires a dedicated commercial recycling collection which is not offered by residential curbside collection. Discarded bands go to landfill.

Back to top

Cork band

Recovered cork

Benefits

• Our recovered cork bands are made from the waste of wine cork production in Portugal.
• Designed to fit into the undercut on our glass cups, the cork bands provide thermal insulation and comfort for holding while drinking. It's naturally lightweight, impermeable and biodegradable.
• The bands are water resistant, antibacterial and heat resistant.

Material information
Natural, renewable, and biodegradable, cork is a sustainable material as it’s harvested from living trees. Our bands are manufactured from the waste of wine cork production in Portugal. The cork offcuts are granulated, then compression-moulded with a very small amount of vegan food grade polyurethane bonding agent - just enough to hold it together while retaining the look and feel of natural cork.

Your cork band may stain over time with use, and we encourage you to view this as a natural patina to the product. 

Part manufacture
Portugal

Manufacture waste
Cork waste from reject stock, extrusion and tool parts at point of manufacture is re-granulated and used to manufacture new products that require less visual colour consistency.

Assembly waste and customer returns
Any reject cork bands identified as we assemble, as well as any customer returns, will be crushed up and wet to be used as mulch on and around our KeepCup garden beds as well as in pot plants in our Australia and UK offices.

End of life
When the cork band is no longer usable, you can either drop it off at a local cork recycling collection point or crush it, wet it, and add to your garden or into pot plants as mulch.  

Back to top

Press lid

Polypropylene alloy plastic (PP) #7. A modified polypropylene (PP) lid body and an overmolded dark grey thermoplastic elastomer inner seal (TPE) means the lid is a polypropylene alloy, reclassified from the traditional polypropylene (PP) #5 to #7 plastic.

Benefits

• Our firm, easy to press on lid is the result of precise engineering and manufacturing and fits easily into a busy service environment, as well as providing drinking pleasure on the go.
• Concave shaped, to fit your face with a drink hole sized for easy flow.
• The breather hole, which allows air to escape and enable liquid flow for drinking on the go, is covered and sealed when the plug is closed. Steam will escape with hot beverages that will turn into liquid on the lid.

Material information

The lid for our KeepCup Brew range is manufactured with two easily identifiable material parts. The first is a modified polypropylene (PP) lid body substrate, which provides a rigid structure. The second material part, the dark grey thermoplastic elastomer inner seal (TPE) is then overmolded onto lid body. The TPE inner seal provides the soft flexibility to ensure necessary sealing that accommodates slight diameter glass cup shape variances that are unavoidable in the glass blowing process. TPEs are most commonly a mix of plastic and rubber. They have the properties of rubber but are processed the same way as plastic and are recyclable.

Part manufacture
Australia

Manufacture waste
Reject stock, extrusion and tool part plastic waste at point of manufacture is ground up in house, added to palletised material and used to manufacture products which are not required to be food safe.

Assembly waste and customer returns
Customer returns and reject parts are collected and sent to our local manufacturer to be ground down and used to make other products that are not required to be food safe.

End of life
Your lid may be placed in your recycling bin if your local curbside collection accepts #7 hard plastics. Otherwise, discarded lid will go to landfill. 

Less than 10% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. Currently, 40% of all plastic produced globally is for single-use packaging. Reusable solutions are the only way forward to meaningfully reduce waste and pollution.

Back to top

Plug

Low-density polyethylene plastic (LDPE) #4

Benefits

• Ease of rotation while drinking on the go.
• Plug provides cover of mouthpiece when not in use, to prevents spills in transit. 

Material information
Low density polyethylene (LDPE) is one of the most widely used plastics for food and drink containers. This material is malleable and easy to injection mould, ensuring we achieve the right dimensional tolerances, and therefore better fit and part operation. This accuracy contributes to lowering the overall manufacture footprint of our products.

Part manufacture
Australia and the United Kingdom

Manufacture waste
Reject stock, extrusion and tool part waste are ground into pellets and used to manufacture products that are not required to be food safe or colour matched.

Assembly waste and customer returns
Customer returns and reject parts from assembly are collected and returned (sorted by material) to the manufacturer to be pelletised and used to manufacture products not required to meet food safety standards.

End of life
Low density polyethylene is readily recycled via most household waste service collections worldwide. Please place in your recycle bin for collection.

Less than 10% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. Currently, 40% of all plastic produced globally is for single-use packaging. Reusable solutions are the only way forward to meaningfully reduce waste and pollution.

Back to top