TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese university student on Tuesday (April 13) took first place in a design competition held by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for her paper cup design that incorporates an origami-style top that eliminates the need for a plastic lid.
On Tuesday, Lin Yi-hsuan (林宜萱), a junior at Chaoyang University of Technology, took first place out of 919 entries in the EPA's "2021 Caring for the Environment Design Competition" for a paper cup that nullifies the need for a plastic covering. The name of the invention is the "TWIST Container" (TWIST 旋轉折杯) and includes a top section that can be folded down to form a tight seal, complete with an opening for a straw.
Lin was cited by Liberty Times as saying that she works part-time in a bubble tea shop, where she noticed a large number of plastic lids being used every day. After researching the subject, she found that Taiwan uses 1.5 billion single-use beverage cups each year.
She noted that the plastic lids attached to such cups cannot easily decompose, thus accumulating and harming the environment for years. Lin decided to come up with a one-piece design that would integrate origami folding techniques to create the lid.
She then experimented with many different shapes before settling on her final creased-design. The final version can be folded within one second by using a "simple folding principle," which creates a tight seal and includes a hole for a straw.
Lin also demonstrated how the folding design could be applied to other containers, such as a lunch box and combination beverage and popcorn holder. She is currently in the process of applying for a patent for her design and has not yet contacted manufacturers about producing her product.
In the future, she wants to use the design with paper takeout containers that do not use plastic film or other materials that cannot be decomposed. She hopes that her twistable folding cups can be used all over Taiwan to reduce the amount of trash in the environment.
The top three finishers in the contest took home cash prizes and will receive subsidies to fly to Denmark to attend the Index Project foundation's Index Award ceremony. This year, 20 works were shortlisted and recommended by the EPA to participate in the Index Award competition.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4178102