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Why it’s so hard to create a truly recyclable Keurig coffee pod
- Approximately 40 million households in the US own a Keurig machine which creates a consequent volume of trash; recycling K-cup pods are not as feasible as consumers have been led to believe.
- Cambio Roasters, a new coffee pod company has developed a Keurig-compatible coffee pod made of aluminum that is infinitely recyclable.
- Keurig started selling K-cups pods made of polypropylene in 2016, but the company ran into trouble for claiming false recyclability, resulting in a $10m class-action settlement and a $1.5m penalty fee.
- Experts say it is difficult to create truly recyclable packaging for any consumer good due to supply chain fragmentation level, as only a quarter of the US population has access to recycling.
- A major problem is that materials recovery facilities aren’t equipped to collect small and lightweight objects often smaller than a credit card that result in them being sent to landfills. This presents an issue for recycling K-cup pods regardless of the material used.
- Cambio allows users to peel back the lid and dump out the grounds before recycling, and the company plans to develop a device that will make bundling the cups together and tossing them into the recycling bin easier.
- Jan Dell, a chemical engineer, and an environmental nonprofit founder, said, “I don’t think aluminum pods are a meaningful improvement,” citing their small size as a barrier to being accepted and sorted via curbside recycling systems.
- Keurig Dr Pepper announced it has plans to launch a program where customers can mail their used pods to Keurig for recycling and are continually exploring more sustainable packaging options.
- The inventor of the K-cup expressed regret over creating it, and eco-conscious coffee brewers can rest easy knowing that one cup doesn’t require a Keurig or Nespresso machine; any coffee maker can be used.
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