Greetings card giant Hallmark has launched a new collection using fibre from James Cropper’s world-leading CupCycling facility.

The Burneside-based specialist paper and non-woven materials manufacturer has supplied recycled material from used take-away cups to help create the new 44-card range, launched at the recent 2019 Progressive Greetings Live event in London.

Its CupCycling plant – the first of its kind on the world – reprocesses disposable coffee cups and transforms them into paper products.

The collaboration between James Cropper and Kansas City based Hallmark, was hailed as a demonstration of both company’s commitment to innovation and sustainability by the two family-run ventures.

“Every card in the new Hallmark collection has a compelling story to tell; the raw material that was once used to carry a morning latte has been given a second life, bringing a smile to someone's face in the form of a beautiful greetings card,” said James Cropper managing director, Steve Adams.

“As the creators of CupCycling – the world's first process designed to upcycle coffee cups – we are proud to be working with Hallmark on what is an outstanding example of circular design. It goes to show that the sky is the limit in terms of creating new value from coffee cup waste.”

All the cards and envelopes in the collection are 100 per cent recyclable.

Alison Murane of Hallmark Cards added: “We already make Hallmark cards from responsibly sourced paper, and so we were delighted to work with James Cropper to help drive forward another sustainable way to make an impact by taking some of the today’s waste and turning it into a beautiful card that creates a lasting moment for tomorrow.”

Hallmark is the latest major brand to work with materials from James Cropper’s CupCycling facility, which separates the high quality ‘virgin’ pulp used in cups to satisfy food industry standards, from its plastic coating.

It is already turning disposable cups from the Selfridges headquarters and flagship store in London into paper to create its iconic yellow shopping bags – which in turn can be recycled as standard waste paper.

The bags carry the CupCycling logo to verify it has been processed at unique facility, which was opened by the Queen in 2013.

It also works with McDonalds to reprocess cups from more than 1,000 restaurants UK wide, and is working with major names including Coca-Cola and Shell to upcycle cups collected through the Leeds by Example campaign.

It is estimated that 2.5 billion paper cups are used in the UK each year. The Burneside plant has capacity to recycle around 500 million paper cups annually.

Its work has been recognised with prestigious industry awards, including the Sustainability Award at the 2018 Foodservice Packaging Association Awards and the Best Collaborative Effort honour at the Sedex Awards.