DE102020006823A1 - Disposable lid for a container for hot drinks - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a disposable lid (10) for a container for hot drinks. The disposable lid (10) has a lid rim (20) by means of which the lid (10) can be detachably attached to the upper rim of a container, and a lid surface (30). According to the invention, the lid (10) contains R-PET and an additive, in particular co-polyester.

Description

TECHNICAL AREA

The invention relates to a disposable lid for a container. Disposable lids for containers are used for to-go cups, for example, to prevent drinks from spilling out while walking or driving.

STATE OF THE ART

Disposable lids for containers are known. The disposable lids usually have a lid rim, through which the lid can be attached to the upper edge of the container. The container can thus be sealed reasonably tightly by the lid. The cover surface of the disposable cover can be closed over its entire surface. This is particularly the case when the container and lid serve as a unitary package for a product that is initially intended to be sold in the package. This is the case, for example, with yoghurt or quark preparations or with ready-made salad mixes. In this case, the cover surface can be largely planar or also designed as a dome. As an alternative to this, the disposable lid can have at least one opening in its lid surface. This is particularly the case when the disposable lid has been placed on a drinking cup as a container. In this case, the disposable lid is not removed when drinking to minimize the risk of spillage. Rather, the drink is drunk through the opening in the lid surface.

The disposable lids are usually made of a food-safe plastic, in particular polystyrene (PS). PS is food-safe, economical to produce and heat-resistant. In addition, PS can be processed well.

When using PS to produce disposable lids, it has been found that PS is often too brittle, so that the edge area of the lid can tear when the disposable lid is placed on the containers. Disposable lids made of PS are also difficult to unstack. As a result, customers keep grabbing two or more disposable lids together. Once touched, the disposable lids are then usually disposed of for hygienic reasons without actually being used.

PS is based on the fossil raw material crude oil and is not completely biodegradable. According to current knowledge, microorganisms are not able to completely decompose PS. Rather, PS is biologically inert and therefore hardly subject to mineralization. The microplastic particles are therefore continuously getting smaller, but there is no actual degradation. An accumulation of plastics on beaches, in sea eddies and in sediments is therefore observed worldwide. In addition, PS is a primary plastic that burns to release toxic benzene or other toxic substances.

For reasons of convenience, the disposable lids are usually disposed of with the residual waste together with the container on which the lids were placed. Since the corresponding foodstuffs that are sold in such a to-go container are usually consumed on the go, the packaging is also disposed of on the way and thus in the municipal waste. Therefore, there is no proper separation and the disposable lids do not end up in the appropriate recycling plants. Rather, municipal waste is often incinerated in incinerators. Due to the resulting toxic vapors, special systems with special filter systems are usually required.

Even in the case of collection via the yellow bag (green dot), it is difficult to separate the single-use PS lids according to type. For example, separation using a water bath can first be carried out as the most economical and energy-efficient method. Both those plastic products that sink to the bottom and those plastic products that float on the water surface can be separated. To do this, however, the specific weight of the plastic products must be either significantly lower or significantly higher than that of water. In the case of polystyrene, water bath separation is therefore hardly possible, since polystyrene with a specific gravity of 1.05 has a very similar specific gravity to water (1.00).

Plastics that have already been recycled, in particular recycled PET (R-PET), are sometimes used for disposable lids for cold foods such as salads or yoghurt preparations. However, due to their low heat resistance, these recycled plastics are not suitable for use with hot drinks, such as coffee-to-go lids in particular. As a result, there is a considerable waste of resources in the case of disposable products used on a large scale, such as disposable lids in particular. In Germany, for example, more than 9,000 tons of polystyrene are used every year to manufacture disposable lids for hot drinks.

PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

Proceeding from this previously known state of the art, the invention is based on the object of specifying an improved disposable lid for a container that can also be used for hot drinks, that reduces the resource consumption of fossil raw materials as much as possible and has the smallest possible CO ₂ footprint.

The disposable lid according to the invention for a container for hot drinks is given by the features of main claim 1. Meaningful developments of the invention are the subject matter of further claims that follow this claim.

The disposable lid according to the invention for a container for hot drinks has a lid surface and an edge of the lid. The disposable lid can be detachably fastened to the upper edge area of a container by the edge of the lid. According to the invention, the disposable lid contains R-PET as the main component. The disposable lid contains at least 60% R-PET.

For containers made of PET (polyethylene), there is already an existing and well-functioning circulatory system. The PET containers, which are in particular bottles, are collected via deposit systems and first pressed in the return machines. The containers are then crushed into PET granules. This PET granulate is also called R-PET. R-PET can then be processed again into the corresponding containers without any loss of quality.

The one-way lids made of R-PET are suitable for direct contact with food and can be processed on conventional machines (e.g. by deep-drawing) without requiring additional energy. The one-way lids made of R-PET could be collected via a comparable deposit or collection system and processed further without any loss of quality. In this way, the disposable lid could be recycled again and again without any loss of quality.

On the other hand, the PS products obtained via the currently available collection systems can be processed into PS regranulate; however, this regranulate is not approved for direct food contact and is therefore not suitable for use as a disposable lid.

When using R-PET as a material for disposable lids, it has also been found that the disposable lids can be unstacked and thus separated much better than is the case with disposable lids made of PS. Also, the disposable lids no longer tear when the lid is placed on the container.

Such a disposable lid therefore has a significantly lower CO ₂ footprint than existing disposable lids. The disposable lid according to the invention therefore follows the guiding principle for environmentally friendly products: "Products also have a CO ₂ footprint that includes the sum of the emissions that arise from the manufacture, use, recycling and disposal of the respective product."

A disposable lid made of R-PET can be used to store cold or room-warm food (e.g. yoghurt or quark preparations or salads) without any problems. However, if use with hot food is also desired, in particular with to-go cups that are filled with hot beverages such as coffee or tea, the use of pure R-PET is problematic. The R-PET has a relatively low melting point, so that the necessary heat resistance of around 85 degrees Celsius is not given.

According to the invention, an additive can therefore be added to the R-PET. The additive can preferably be a co-polyester. Due to the high heat resistance of the additive, it can act as a barrier against the high temperatures, so that the required heat resistance is given. In this way, it can also be used for hot drinks. Despite the additive, the material of the disposable lid is still a monoplastic, so it can still be returned to the recycling cycle. The one-way lids made of R-PET with the additive can still be detected as PET using the usual detection systems in sorting systems.

The disposable lid can preferably be made from a multi-layer film. In this case, the film can contain a layer of pure R-PET. A protective layer made of the additive, preferably made of the co-polyester, can be provided on at least one side of this R-PET layer. The foil can preferably consist of three layers. In this case, the middle layer can be formed as an R-PET layer, while the two outer layers can consist of co-polyester. In this case, the layer thicknesses of the individual layers can be optimally adapted to the requirements of heat resistance and thus to the hot drink to be packaged. So the outer protective layer made of co-polyester can be selected for every requirement so that on the one hand the optimum heat resistance can be achieved and at the same time the proportion of R-PET can be kept as large as possible. In a particularly preferred embodiment, which has been found to be sufficiently heat resistant for many applications, there are a total of three layers, with the middle R-PET layer having a weight fraction of 80%. The two outer protective layers made of co-polyester each have a weight percentage of 10%.

Further advantages and features of the invention can be found in the features also specified in the claims and in the exemplary embodiment below.

character list

• 1 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Einweg-Deckels nach der Erfindung,
• 2 eine Draufsicht auf den Deckel gemäß 1 und
• 3 einen Längsschnitt durch den Deckel gemäß 2.

The invention is described and explained in more detail below with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawing. Show it:

• 1 a perspective view of a disposable lid according to the invention,
• 2 a plan view of the lid according to FIG 1 and
• 3 according to a longitudinal section through the cover 2 .

WAYS TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION

The disposable lid 10 according to the invention is in the 1 until 3 shown schematically. In the present example, the disposable lid 10 consists of R-PET with an additive.

The disposable lid 10 has a circular cross-section. The disposable lid 10 has a lid edge 20 which has a total of two shoulder formations 22, 24 in the present example. Due to the two shoulder formations 22, 24, the disposable lid 10 can be releasably attached to containers with different diameters. The disposable lid 10 is clipped onto the upper edge area of the container with one of the two shoulder formations 22, 24, so that the container is closed sufficiently tightly.

In contrast to the example shown here, the disposable lid 10 could also have only a single shoulder formation.

The disposable lid 10 also has a lid surface 30 which, in the present example, has a raised edge region 32 and a sloping, lower-lying inner surface 34 . An oval drinking opening 36 is present in the raised edge region 32 .

In the present example, the disposable lid 10 is a lid that can be placed on a drinking cup. In order to be able to drink from the drinking cup while running or driving without possibly spilling the contents, the lid has a corresponding drinking opening.

In contrast to the lid shown here, other disposable lids could also be made from R-PET. Corresponding lids would then not necessarily have to have a drinking opening. For example, the lids could also have a dome-shaped lid surface, as is known, for example, from quark or yoghurt preparations. It would also be possible to design the cover with a different cross section. Depending on the shape of the container to be closed, the lid does not necessarily have to have a circular cross section. For example, in the case of salad or fruit dishes, the use of rectangular containers—often with rounded corners—is also known. Correspondingly, the disposable lid would then also have a rectangular cross section with possibly rounded corners.

Claims (7)

Disposable lid (10) for a container for hot drinks, - with a lid edge (20) through which the lid (10) can be detachably attached to the upper edge of a container, - with a lid surface (30), - characterized in that - The lid (10) contains R-PET and an additive, in particular co-polyester. disposable lid after claim 1 , - characterized in that - the lid (10) has a multilayer structure, - at least one of the layers contains R-PET, - at least one of the layers contains the additive, in particular co-polyester. disposable lid after claim 2 , - characterized in that - the lid (10) has a three-layer structure, - the middle layer contains R-PET, - the two outer layers contain the additive, in particular co-polyester. disposable lid after claim 3 , - characterized in that - the middle layer has a weight proportion of about 80%, - The two outer layers have a weight percentage of about 10% each. Disposable lid according to one of the preceding claims, - characterized in that - the lid edge (20) has a first shoulder formation (22) and a second shoulder formation (24), so that - the lid (10) can be releasably attached to two different containers . Disposable lid according to one of the preceding claims, - characterized in that - the edge of the lid (20) can be clipped onto the upper edge of a container. Disposable lid according to one of the preceding claims, - characterized in that - there is an opening (36) in the lid surface (30).

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