Exploring the three dimensions of sustainability related to clay cups

Abstract

Since long before the use of disposable foil, plastic and paper cups, clay cups have been widely used in India as single-use containers for a variety of beverages and foods. This is now changing. The cost, convenience and transportability of non-earthen containers has resulted in their replacing clay containers. This paper discusses the gains and losses from this substitution along the three dimensions of sustainability economic, environmental and social, and shows that the replacement analyses for even such a simple product are complex with tradeoffs in the three dimensions impacting the wellbeing of the producers and users. The paper also presents the life cycle assessment of clay cups in terms of endpoint and midpoint categories using ReCiPe method, and also find the environmental hotspots.