I think they mean paper coffee cups - they’re usually lined with plastic to make them waterproof.

From the article:

She was on board with increasing access to rehabilitation, but stressed it doesn’t need to happen in prison.

Studies have shown that jail time does not reduce a criminal’s future risk of crime and may slightly increase it. Meanwhile, rehabilitation inside or outside of prison has been shown to reduce the risk of future crime by 29 percent.

Crime rates in NZ have been steadily decreasing for years. It seems to me by increasing access to rehab we will continue to see better outcomes for society as a whole.