So many coffee lovers have switched to single portion delivery devices produced by a variety of brands, including Tassimo, Flavia and Green Mountain. The coffee tastes is always fresh, perfectly brewed and one doesn’t waste extra coffee left from brewing a full pot.
The single dose cartridge is a composite of aluminum, plastic and coffee. Its used cartridge is currently not recyclable and is what Bill McDonough would call a "monstrous hybrid" since all three parts on their own are either compostable or recyclable, but together they make a unit that isn't readily recyclable and thus is headed to the landfill. (The same is true for a wide range of common products too long to list here).
The solution to waste streams like this is to collect them and “dissemble.” The separation of the three basic materials is hard to automate and likely must be done by hand, at which point, the coffee can be easily be composted and the plastic and aluminum recycled.
This begs the question: where do you draw the line between the value of the material and the cost of the time it takes for people to render the material valuable? Is it just a straight economic question or should other factors come into play, like reducing the size of our landfills?
If it's more than just economics, should the government get involved and provide incentives for people and companies that render "non-recyclable" materials recyclable? Or should this be approached from the other angle and should a tax be imposed on the production of non-recyclable material? Or maybe consumers will recognize that the convenience of single dose hybrid packaging comes with a cost, but then we are back to the all too familiar issue of externalities.
I’m interested in your thoughts.
I read the article on individual coffee packets and see some possible light at the end of this tunnel in that some value that is connected to these little packets is missing somewhere.
Consumers are willing to reuse or recycle just about anything, they just want to be informed about how to go about it. In this case, if brewed coffee grounds have a good purpose and the consumers know about it they will put them to use.
If consumers are informed of the value in the materials as something they can use for other purposes they will use them. In the case of the coffee brewers, if the aluminum foil attached to the plastic has a use as a teaching aid or a coaster, or a place to rest a hot glue gun it becomes a tool. People used to reuse nearly every packaging item because as a container they were very valuable. As toss-aways packaging is looked at as not valuable and even in some cases a liability. I believe with a little innovation and creativeness outside the box or the bag we can put value back into packaging and put packaging and its reuse or recycle as a light at the end of the tunnel, not some kind of problem to be dealt with.
Hi Tom:
I met your business partner last week, Robin, while visiting a contract packager in NJ...very interesting guy. We had a great talk about this reuse issue and he promptly backed it up by giving me and my sales rep some TerraCycle planters/soil to take home (in the recycled pulp "muffin" tray)...pretty cool, but note to self: not TSA friendly at the airport. They confiscated it.........bummer.
For the record, I think the government should provide incentives for companies that render "non-recyclable" materials recyclable. A tax-imposition is probably more realistic and short term, but there is a steep learning curve facing many politicians on sustainable packaging. A lot of misinformed legislators out there (Robin and I discusssed this also) . It is one of our objectives to make them aware of this site (GreenerPackage) and educate them.
Anyway, keep up the great thought leadership and we at GP and Packaging World look forward to tracking your "take-it-back" programs. This is terrific.
Tom,
It is great that you are now participating by providing insight into these issues that you are leading the charge on. You are definitely a modern day waste innovator and I look up to all that you have done with Terracycle.
I believe that in order to fully comprehend alternatives to this packaging solution it is important to investigate why single cup delivery is necessary. These single portion delivery approaches solve:
1) freshness
2) waste of coffee if not consumed wholly
3) unnecessary energy use by eliminating need to maintain coffee temperature through the use of the typical hot plate (pointed out as a being the key environmental issue in an LCA performed using SimaPro.
I would suggest that the next approach for these companies to reduce waste is to develop an organic low temperature PLA or other plastic capable of maintaining a seal until exposed to the coffee brewing temperatures. The plastic would then disintegrate to expose the coffee and maybe provide flavor, sucrose, or something else? They could come in a large reusable package and be purchased in a store from a bin based on quantity....like nuts or cereal in Whole Foods. The product could be shipped in larger recycled boxes or reusable 55 gallon drums and stocked by the retailer.
I realize that this will most likely require modifications to the existing coffee makers, but I believe it is a viable solution to the dilemma.
Thanks for all that you have done for sustainability, up-cycling, and the waste industry.
Hi Tom,
I am of those who believe that if the coffee is packed in this hybrid capsule, it has good reasons.
We shouldn't forget that the essence of packaging is to protect the product. I am not sure that a recyclable solution would fit the protection requirements of the coffee.
And even if the material was recyclable, would it be worth collecting it? It is so small that we might use more energy to recycle it than putting it into landfills.
Now, landfills...obviously not a sustainable way to dispose of waste. What about industrial incineration? This is widely used in European countries. It generates heat for homes as well as electricity. 1 ton of waste is equivalent to 300 liters of fuel. Why is incineration not used in the US?
We could argue that the problem comes from consumption habits. These hybrid capsules wouldn't exist if people didn't use them...It has been shown by LCA that "home" made coffee requires much more energy than capsule coffee. Plus the waste of coffee not consummed has way more environmental impacts than the solid waste of a capsule.
To conclude, I am not pro-recyclability, I believe that before changing all of our packages to recyclable material and decrease the protection of the product, we should have a holistic approach and find the right compromise in terms of product protection and environmental impacts.