Secretary of State for Wales visits innovative packaging plant that is shipping its new cup design across Europe, with funding from Cardiff Capital Region’s Innovation Investment Capital.
Secretary of State Jo Stevens has visited award-winning Transcend Packaging, based in Ystrad Mynach, to view progress on their new hot cup and lid for a major hot drinks retailer in Europe. The two companies worked together on extensive R&D and manufacturing innovations to develop the new iteration of the iconic white cup which launched across Europe in the summer and will soon be coming to the UK. Part of the funding for the development of this new product came from CCR’s Innovation Investment Capital (IIC) in 2024. The Deputy Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council Cllr Jamie Pritchard and CEO Ed Edmunds also attended the visit.
A common challenge with plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups is that they may be difficult to recycle with the plastic lining needing to be separated from the paper cup during the recycling process. Through their partnership, Transcend’s work has culminated in the replacement of the cup’s plastic lining with a mineral-based coating. In addition, the single-use plastic lids have been replaced with fibre alternatives, coated with the same mineral-based material.
Transcend’s new cup is the first application of this emerging technology to a coffee cup at scale and is a widely recyclable and home compostable alternative for when customers don’t have a reusable cup. Manufacturing has already begun at Transcend’s Ystrad Mynach headquarters, which employs nearly 200 people and shipments are already being sent to numerous markets across Europe.
Overall, it’s been quite a year for Transcend and CCR’s Innovation Investment Capital. The packaging innovator has won major awards in the UK including a “Gold” prize for cup innovation at the UK Environmental Packaging Awards and the “Manufacturing Export Award” at the recent Made in Wales Awards. In addition, CCR and the Innovation Investment Capital team has recently won ‘Small Deal Of the Year’ for its funding of Transcend.
