An Indian man has earned a Guinness World Record for amassing the world’s largest collection of paper cups.
Sunil Joseph, a 57-year-old social worker, holds the record with 858 paper cups from 31 countries, according to Guinness World Records. The total was verified in December 2025 and may have grown since then.
Joseph said his fascination with collecting started when he was a child.
“This early curiosity evolved into a lifelong passion, leading me to curate diverse collections ranging from razor blade wrappers and airline boarding passes to coffee mugs and tea bags,” he told Guinness World Records.
The collection that first brought Joseph international recognition was not paper cups, but phone cards.
In 2013, he earned a Guinness World Record for the largest collection of phone cards, with 5,986 cards. The title has since been surpassed by Canadian collector Eric Coutinho, whose collection stands at 8,266.
Joseph’s record-setting paper cup collection includes cups ranging in size from five millilitres to 500 millilitres. The cups have been often gathered with the help of friends and family members travelling abroad.
“This growth is rarely a solitary effort,” Joseph said. “My friends and relatives across various countries frequently contribute items they find, helping the collection expand far beyond what I could gather alone.”
Joseph keeps the paper cups at home alongside several other collections, including postcards, currencies, coffee mugs and razor blade wrappers.
He also regularly shares his collections with students through exhibitions at schools and colleges.
For Joseph, collecting remains about more than setting records.
“Establishing a world record is a journey defined by unwavering dedication and a clear vision,” he said. “It is an achievement that demands persistence, often turning a personal passion into a globally recognized milestone.”
