As you may have guessed, there's a lot more to the paper cup recycling process - and many more components that need to be processed by your local recycling plant (if they get recycled at all).

Click on the paper cup diagram to learn more about its individual parts.

Your morning wake-me-up has a lid made of polystyrene, a non-biodegradable plastic. Most recycling facilities lack the means to handle these plastic lids, although it depends on the type of lid (black or white; PS-5 or PS-6) and the requirements of your local recycling program.

What keeps your paper cup from collapsing into a hot, soggy mess once it’s filled with your beverage of choice? That’d be the polyethylene lining, made from a common plastic that retains heat and repels liquids.

Although the plastic coating only makes up 5% of your cup, most paper recycling mills lack the equipment to filter it out.

That’s why the vast majority of paper cups end up in landfills.

The bulk of your cup is made of wood and bark chips transformed into wood pulp and then processed into paper, which then gets bleached and shaped into cups for your caffeinated consumption.

Many paper cup manufacturers use 100% virgin paper board to make the vessel for your morning java, while companies like Starbucks integrate 10% post-consumer (recycled) paper with 90% virgin materials.

The cardboard sleeve puts up a protective barrier between your hands and the scalding-hot liquids in your cup. While it depends on the cup and the company, the sleeve is oftentimes made of recycled and recyclable materials.

The Mobius loop generally means your cup is recyclable, but the recycling system in your area may reject the cup anyway.

Another Mobius loop variant shows off a code to identify the item’s recycling category — like PS-6 for the polystyrene lid or PAP for the paper cup and sleeve.

Before your paper cup can be fully recycled, its fancy graphics must be stripped away in a process called deinking. To avoid the ugly side-effects of ink waste, many companies are moving towards soy, vegetable and water-based inks for a lighter environmental impact.