Alex Dalland
When it comes to having coffee at home, Australians are turning away from granulated ‘instant’ coffee in droves – opting for barista quality brewing with the convenience of coffee ‘pods’, with an estimated 3 million consumed every day in Australia alone.
But while these pods are a great way to get your coffee fix short term, it is their long term environmental effects that are causing a stir.
“The recycling system is designed to deal with bottles and cans, and things like that – if anyone puts a pod in their home recyling bin, it will just fall through the [filtering] screen and become a contaminant in the recycling system,” Brad Grey, head of campaigns at Planet Ark says.
Unfortunately, many coffee pods are made from plastic which cannot be recycled. Other companies, such as Nespresso, have devised more creative solutions – including local drop off points where customers can hand in bags of collected empty capsules, boxes they can store their capsules in to be picked up by couriers free of charge, and a recent partnership with Australia Post.
“Co-developing a satchel that is specifically designed to be carried in Australia Post’s national network is a significant step for us to provide more accessibility to recycling for our consumers,” Loïc Réthoré, General Manager of Nespresso Australia and Oceania says.
“The challenge we face is that there are some products that Australia’s kerbside recycling collection systems cannot accept, which is why since 2010 we have operated a dedicated recycling program.
“Since then, we have been continuously looking for ways to make it easier for our consumers to recycle, as their participation is essential to make our recycling efforts a success. Co-developing a satchel that is specifically designed to be carried in Australia Post’s national network is a significant step for us to provide more accessibility to recycling for our consumers.”
Nespresso faced some controversy last year for refusing to say how many coffee pods it actually recycles, although it is believed that by 2013 they had collected and successfully recycled 75 per cent of pods sold worldwide. But other brands are also leading the way on coffee change, with Oxfam choosing to use biodegradable plastic – meaning regardless of where they end up, the entire capsule will decompose.
“We encourage consumers to think about the excessive cost and negative environmental impacts of buying aluminium coffee pods which cannot be recycled using a curb-side recycling program and which consumers have to pay to recycle via post,” Oxfam General Manager Julia Sumner said in a recent statement.
“While most other brands use full aluminium capsules, Oxfam’s high quality range is made using biodegradable plastic, meaning that even if the capsules are not recycled they will naturally break down in landfill.”
Other brands, including many home brand capsules, are made from a combination of aluminium and plastic, meaning that no matter where they are thrown out they will inevitably end up in landfill.
