LONDON – Southampton-based plastics company Biome Bioplastics, one of the UK’s leading developers of natural plastics, will is unveiling a series of coffee pods made from natural that it hopes will be able to replace the increasingly popular capsules used in the latest generation of coffee makers.
The global coffee capsule market is worth $6.6bn. There are at present around 50 different coffee pod or capsule systems, but their convenience comes at a price.
According to the company, an estimated 9.1 billion single-serve coffee and drink cartridges wind up in US landfills every year, amounting to some 19 million cubic feet of waste.
Single-serve coffee pods are not easily recyclable and mixed-material pod brands that do offer a recycling service have few recycling points and limited collection services.
In response to this challenge, Biome Bioplastics has developed a portfolio of compostable materials for coffee pods based on renewable, natural resources including plant starches and tree by-products.
These bioplastics will degrade to prescribed international standards in composting environments.
Biome Bioplastics CEO Paul Mines, said : “Single–serve coffee pods are an excellent example of the fundamental role that packaging plays in delivering quality and convenience in the food service sector.
The challenge is to reduce environmental impact through packaging optimisation without impacting on food quality or safety, or inconveniencing the customer. Bioplastics are an important part of the solution.”
