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From Chewed Up to Brewed Up: Meet the Coffee Cup Made from Recycled Bubblegum

Yes, you read that right. Your next favourite coffee cup might just be made from something someone once chewed.

Filthy? Maybe.

Genius? Absolutely.


Every day, millions of people enjoy a quick chew on some gum. But when the flavour’s gone? That gum often ends up clinging to pavements, stuck under tables, or littering our streets. It’s an everyday mess most of us don’t think about—but one UK company did.

And they turned it into something... surprisingly beautiful.




Step 1: Capture the Chew


Meet Gumdrop—the pioneers behind the world’s first closed-loop recycling system for chewing gum. Their iconic pink Gumdrop Bins give waste gum a place to go (besides the bottom of your shoe). Fun fact? The bins themselves are made from recycled gum. That's full circle thinking right there.


They even partner with chewing gum manufacturers to collect industrial gum waste straight from the source. So whether it’s post-snack spit-out or factory scrap—it’s all fair game.




Step 2: Clean It Up


All that collected gum is first heat treated at extremely high temperatures, killing off any nasty bacteria. Then it’s blended with a special polymer to create a new material called GUM-TEC®—a flexible, durable compound that’s ready to be reborn.


Before it’s used in products, it’s chopped down into pea-sized pellets, perfect for moulding into something fresh and functional.



Step 3: Repurpose with Purpose


This is where it gets clever.


The outer shell of the Circular Cup (a reusable travel cup designed for years of use) is made with this upcycled gum material. Everything that comes into contact with your drink—like the lid and the inner layer—is made with certified food-grade materials, so you’re sipping safely.


Gum on the outside.

Coffee on the inside.

And none of it ends up in landfill.




Step 4: New Life, New Purpose


Each cup is formed using high-pressure injection moulding, then carefully assembled and finished with their patented ‘push/push’ lid.


The result? A beautiful, tough, totally reusable coffee cup with a past life as chewing gum.


At the end of its life? It’s fully recyclable, ready to start again.


That’s what we call Circular thinking.




Want More Cups with a Story?


Explore our Sustainable Coffee Cup Collection—each one made with weird and wonderful materials that make sustainability feel surprisingly cool:


  • ☕ Made from traceable marine plastic (yep, that includes fishing nets)

  • ☕ Made from recycled coffee grounds (talk about full circle)

  • ☕ Made from recycled paper cups

  • ☕ Made from recycled fabric

  • ☕ Made from recycled running shoes (no, they don’t smell)


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