Nov. 13, 2007 Hilton Garden Inn has announced it will begin using the Ecotainer compostable coffee cup at its 340 locations throughout the U.S., replacing more than 6.5 million non-renewable styro-based cups used by the hotel chain each year.

Developed by International Paper, the Ecotainer is coated with a corn-based plastic that allows the cups to be composted rather than landfilled. The cup also requires less energy and generates less greenhouse gases during manufacture, according to International Paper.

American consumers use an estimated 16 billion disposable hot beverage paper cups each year.