Coffee Pods and the Environment
ESE Coffee Pods versus Plastic Coffee Pods
There is a lot of concern about the waste produced by the Coffee pods most easily recognised through brands like Nepresso. The size of either aluminium capsules or plastic pods (e.g. k cups) makes for a lot of environmental waste, particularly as more and more people want the ability to consume good quality coffee in their businesses or homes.
We all need to understand the impact our consumption has on the environment and at Lucaffe Australia we are very proactive in composting our used ESE pods and looking to ensure we do all we can to minimise waste.
We decided to conduct an experiment on what the difference there is compared to a typical ESE Coffee Pod verse a capsule.
For this experiment, we wanted to compare the packets in our coffee to the other capsules or pods:
- We collected all our packets from each coffee sold in our Brisbane cafe
- We put all the spent (used) ESE pods into our bokashi compost bucket (something the other capsules can't do)
Note for this experiment we purchased a plastic pod from our local supermarket, the size and volume is typical of most of these types of coffee pods.
The Results:
We used a 1.5kg water bottle in each instance to apply some pressure to the empty packets. The weights didn't compress the plastic capsules but we were able to get 150 Lucaffe Ese Pod packets into the same 30mm height.
By Volume:
150 ESE Coffee Pod Packets = 5 x standard plastic coffee pods
The Reality: Filling a Wheelie bin...
160,000 ESE coffee pod packets or 5,500 standard coffee capsules
150 Lucaffe packets v 5 capsules
ESE Pods are Compostable
The beauty of the waste from our ESE Coffee Pods is that they are completely compostable. The Biodegradable paper that the coffee is packed in and the coffee grounds fully compost and make soil for your garden.
We use a smell free Bokashi compost bucket in our home and office and grow herbs from our composted coffee waste as well as using the rest of the left-over compost around our pot plants.
Choose Lucaffe ESE pods to reduce your environmental footprint from drinking high-quality coffee in your business or at home! So Yes you can recycle your coffee pods!
