Coffee Capsules: Another Green Problem for Caffeine Lovers

London has already been cuffed around the ear to clean up its coffee cup act. The paper cups we think are easily recycled are the exact opposite and have been for some time. A campaign has been launched in the City of London to recycle more cups but sadly for coffee drinkers, cups aren’t the only issue.

A few years back the world went crazy for coffee machines that use capsules. Companies like Nespresso have been producing individual coffee capsules since the ’70s and ’80s but it was only when the likes of George Clooney started advertising them that they really took off.

The popularity of the pod machine lies in its simplicity. Choose a coffee, place its pod in the machine, click down the lid and voila – instant coffee with classier credentials. The drink you get isn’t actually that good but it’s quick and consistent – perfect for Londoners on the go.

The rise of capsule coffee has been swift and sensational. You can now find them in 30% of Michelin-starred restaurants. Nestlé’s Nespresso has partnered with Nobu, Fat Duck, The Four Seasons and many more of the world’s best eateries. But coffee pods are being sold in the billions each year with no thought to the environmental repercussions.

Killing the Environment with Every Cup

Like the cups, the capsules can’t be recycled in your usual bins. The pods come in either plastic or an aluminium mix, neither of which are recycled by our councils. As capsules aren’t classed as packaging under EU law, the Government doesn’t have to implement a recycling scheme. That means that every 60 seconds the world puts 13,500 non-biodegradable coffee capsules into landfill.

Nespresso, the leader in the field, has at least acknowledged there’s a problem and is trying to fix it. It has a recycling scheme that means it can “retrieve” 80% of all the aluminium capsules it sells by getting customers to collect and return pods in bags of 200. You’ll notice that the company doesn’t use the word “recycle”. What retrieval actually means is unclear and deliberately ambiguous.

Nespresso has pledged to achieve 100% retrieval by 2020, “thereby increasing recycling rates”. The company adds that it will “recycle Nespresso capsules collected into new capsules each time it makes environmental sense to do so”. Why it wouldn’t recycle all of them isn’t explained, nor will Nespresso reveal the real numbers behind its recycling. What is clear is that its PR deserves more praise than its sustainability.

A City Fighting Back

Tassimo run a similar scheme, again relying on their consumers to collect their capsules and take them to a recycling point. If the number of people who complain about having to wash out a tin can is anything to go by, we’re in serious trouble. When rinsing a bottle is beyond us, the chance of travelling to a recycling centre with a bin bag of collected capsules is slim to none.

Some cities are fighting back against this pod onslaught. Last year Hamburg banned coffee capsules and their machines from state-run buildings. Hamburg’s council said that the individual portion packs create unnecessary waste and consumption and “often contain polluting aluminium” – so much for metal being an improvement on plastic.

Banning the pods is a step in the right direction but more can be done. A deposit or discount system would encourage users to return the capsules ready for processing and (with any luck) reuse. Having said that, the best method is always prevention: recycling is great but why not get rid of the issue altogether?

Biodegradability and British Tastebuds

Thankfully one new company is striding ahead of the rest. Halo Coffee is all about sustainability and their coffee pods are entirely biodegradable. They’re also compatible with Nespresso machines, meaning there’s really no excuse. If one company can do it, why won’t the rest?

The answer may come down to our tastebuds. Nespresso says aluminium is the best for maintaining the coffee’s flavour. To that I say “who cares?”. Our country is famed for having the blandest food on earth. We drink Starbucks’s sugary shit by the gallon. I think we’ve already proved that our tongues can take a beating so we’ll certainly survive a biodegradable coffee pod.

If you care about how your caffeine kick is killing the rest of us, buy compostable coffee capsules from Halo here and check out our reusable cups recommendations.

by Jo Davey

The post Coffee Capsules: Another Green Problem for Caffeine Lovers appeared first on Felix Magazine.