The Recycling of K Cups and Single Serve Coffee

Photo of a mint growing in a K Cup

As you might have guessed in running a website like this we do enjoy our Keurig coffee. The convenience, huge variety in types of coffee and the ease of making a coffee quickly makes us one of many around the world, although still largely US based, who enjoy the start of their morning with their Keurig brewer (in our case, being our “mostly” trusty B60).

However, perhaps likes lots of these coffee drinkers we have always been a bit remiss in regards to how we deal with the waste generated from making our morning coffee. The plastic, foil and coffee from the used K Cup to be honest normally finds its way into the trash and then at some point later in the week to be picked up at the curb.

Even though recently we have started to do a better job in this area, with extracting the coffee out, removing the foil top and washing the plastic container, this takes time and can be a bit messy …. so doesn’t happen on a very regular basis.

However, all of our hard work and worry (Im not sure it has caused any worry lines, but they add up you know) might be over with Club Coffee, a firm based in Toronto Canada, launching, as far as we know, the first compostable coffee pod – and tea from what we understand.

Club Coffee was started way back in 1906, however now is one of the biggest manufactures of coffee products in Canada. According to its website it produces coffee for over 500 other labels in addition to the 200 or so it makes under its own name. In addition to holding Global Food Safety Initiative certification it is also recognized for its certifications in Rain Forest Alliance, organic sourcing of its ingredients and Fair Trade engagement.

We certainly hope this type of product will do well in market, which will lead to the growth in even more firms offering a better alternative to the current packaging and waste that goes into the enormous single serve coffee market. I know our purchasing of this type of product won’t change the world, just like our current efforts don’t, but if only a few people go down this path a real difference can be made.

Club Coffee talks Compostable Coffee Pod to CTV Consumer Alert