Why it's so hard to create a truly recyclable Keurig coffee pod

[Diamond_Dog]

(snip)

Every cup of java brewed creates a conundrum: what to do with the coffee pod that produced it. To start, can it be recycled?

The answer, in Keurig’s case, is not really. The company’s single-use coffee pods — also known as K-cups — are made of polypropylene plastic, a material that experts warn is not as recyclable as consumers have been led to think. Two of the country’s largest recycling companies have said they do not accept K-cup pods, and one environmental group calculated that if you lined up all the K-cup pods in the world’s landfills side by side, they would comfortably circle the globe 10 times.

A new coffee pod company claims to have developed a solution to Keurig’s plastic waste problem. Cambio Roasters, which launched in September, offers a Keurig-compatible coffee pod that’s made out of aluminum — which, unlike plastic, is infinitely recyclable. Cambio is led by a team of former Keurig employees, including founder and CEO Kevin Hartley, who was previously a chief innovation officer at Keurig Green Mountain, as the company was formerly known. “This is, in our view, the most exciting innovation in coffee since the K-cup,” said Hartley during a launch-day press call for Cambio.

Experts, however, aren’t sure that Cambio understands just how big of a problem K-cups pose to curbside recycling systems.

More
https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/why-its-so-hard-to-create-a-truly-recyclable-keurig-coffee-pod/

[Ocelot II]

1. If you want better coffee *and* no recycling problems,

grind your own beans and make your coffee with the reusable pod. I get that this might not be practical in an office, but you can do fresh-ground, guilt-free coffee at home.

[kimbutgar]

6. When I use my Keurig I use the reusable pod and never buy the pre made ones for that reason !

[Ocelot II]

7. Same here. It's cheaper, too. You can get more coffee from a bag of beans

than from a package of K-cups, and it's much better as well. You can make any kind of coffee you want.

[Attilatheblond]

2. Coffee maker that uses more plastic and makes more trash...

Further proof that 'new' isn't always a better, or even good idea.

[Gore1FL]

3. I don't understand why they can't make a bio-degradable pod and call it done.

Making them out of aluminum just means more aluminum in the landfill.

[Ocelot II]

5. Biodegradable materials tend to be porous so the coffee would get stale.

[NickB79]

11. Cameron's Coffee does

See my post below.

[fierywoman]

4. Heat + aluminum isn't healthy. Try taking a minute and make yourself "drip" (paper filter) coffee.

[wolfie001]

8. I use a Mr. Coffee machine and Nature's Promise brown paper filters

Great cup ever time and if you turn off the machine, the coffee sits in there like a French press so you can reheat it 5 hours later and it still tastes fresh. Zero recycle problems and just some compostable byproduct. Such an easy solution to an unnecessary problem.

[hunter]

9. The coffee habit by itself has a high environmental cost.

The environmental damage caused by the Keurig pods themselves may be a negligible in comparison to the environmental damage caused by growing coffee.

We forget that aside from burning fossil fuels agriculture is the most environmentally destructive activity humans engage in.

Disclaimer: I drink coffee. I'm not a connoisseur, however. I'll drink whatever is easiest. Grinding my own beans for fancy brewing of any sort would be an act of desperation on my part.

[NickB79]

10. Cameron's Coffee sells Ecopods that are compostable

https://www.cameronscoffee.com/blog/your-favorite-pods-now-100-compostable/

I use them when I don't feel like making a full pot (our Keurig is a dual unit with both a pot and a pod slot), and their coffee is actually quite good IMO. Also quite reasonable price-wise, and locally made here in Minnesota.

I did start burying them in my compost pile, but then noticed they didn't compost nearly as fast as I thought they would even when running it hot with fresh chicken manure. I'm still finding small pieces of white bioplastic 3 years later. Of course, when you read the fine print, they state:

*Compostable in industrial facilities. Check locally, as these do not exist in many communities. No current certification for backyard composting.

So now I just dig a hole 1' deep and bury the pods in a corner of my garden and forget about them. I did try an experiment where I added a shovel of fresh chicken manure and some trash fish (bullheads) with them last year. I'll dig them up this summer to see if that sped up the process.