This Coffee Stain Reminds You to Recycle

On the go or to go, coffee cups are part of our daily lives.

With millions of paper cups in use around the world, there is however something that is still a bit itchy: paper cups are not allowed in wastepaper baskets and cannot be recycled because of a thin plastic layer inside.

But that is finally changing because Másalto Espresso is now launching fully recyclable paper cups, without a plastic layer. And with the help of Belgian agency Happiness, the coffee brand has developed a sustainable and simple design solution to educate coffee drinkers to recycle their cups: The recycling stain.

By changing the core design of its paper cups, Másalto took advantage of the “coffee ring effect”-, the circle-shaped coffee stain that appears when you put your coffee on a table or a counter.

A new and simple way to communicate its message, using nothing but coffee stains saying “please recycle me”.

So, remember to recycle your cup next time you’re having a coffee... or let your coffee do it for you!