FORCE Technology has conducted a life cycle assessment of Tivoli’s recycling cups. It shows that every year Tivoli saves the environment of several tons of CO2 with the present recycling system.

Tivoli had its environmental issues mapped for the first time in 2000, but after significant changes to the system, FORCE Technology was asked to make a new and updated environmental assessment. 

The purpose was to document the environmental load of recycling cups from cradle to grave, and to compare it to the environmental impact from disposable cups. Tivoli furthermore got detailed information as to the interrelation between how many times the cups are used (recyclability) and the environmental impact seen in the light of the usage of such disposable cups.

Saves 10 tons of garbage a year

The environmental assessments were conducted as a life cycle assessment according to the principles in the so called ISO 14040/44, and the calculations are about contribution to the climate effect, consumption of fossil energy and water. 

The cups have become a popular souvenir, and thus 100,000 cups will have to be replaced by new ones every year. Still calculations show that Tivoli’s cups are used more than 6 times as an average, before they disappear or break. And that saves the environment for more than 10 tons of waste for incineration and thus emission of several tonnes of CO2.

Even better environmental management is a possibility

The result may be applied in Tivoli’s in-house environmental work with optimisation of the recycling system, but also in the external communication to interested parties, where the results were used in Tivoli’s CSR report. In the LCA was included a flexible module, making it possible for Tivoli to calculate the environmental profile for present and future solutions, if any.

Tivoli started recycling drinking cups in 1998, where 100,000 beer mugs were washed and recycled in connection with “Fredagsrock” (Friday Night Rocks). In 2010 this figure had increased to almost a million. 

Today, the recycling cups are made of polypropylene (PP) in various sizes ad with various Tivoli motives. Recycling plastic cups is part of Tivoli’s environmental work and an environmental assessment of the system is therefore very important to Tivoli.