PORTLAND, Ore. – Boyd’s Coffee will be among the companies offering “the world’s first 100 percent compostable, fully certified single-serve beverage pod,” produced in partnership with the Canadian coffee roaster Club Coffee.
The pod is compatible with Keurig brewing systems that accept K-Cup portion packs, including the new Keurig 2.0 brewers.
The new single-serve pod is made from bio-based renewable resources, including the ring of the pod, which is made from coffee chaff – the skin of the coffee bean that comes off during the roasting process. Every single part of the pod is designed to be compostable.
The pod is currently undergoing a rigorous process to meet U.S. and international standards and certifications required by municipal compost manufacturers.
It is expected to be certified in the coming months.
“As a fourth-generation Oregon company, not only do we care about providing an exceptional coffee experience wherever our customers choose to have it, we also care deeply about our impact on the environment and strive to find ways to protect our planet,” said Jeffrey Newman, CEO of Boyd Coffee Company.
“Together with our partner, Club Coffee, we will now bring to market an innovative and exceptional-tasting single-serve compostable pod that can be converted to useful compost—a welcome alternative solution to the billions of K-Cups filling landfills in our country.”
“The US Composting Council supports and encourages the production of certified, compostable plastics to replace non-compostable products,” said Al Rattie, Director of Market Development, US Composting Council.
“Many organic residuals and food scraps, such as coffee grounds, continue to be disposed of in landfills, rather than being diverted to commercial compost manufacturing facilities where they can serve as part of a valuable feedstock.
“Currently, plastic, single serve coffee pods are included in this disposable waste stream,” Rattie continued.
“Where curbside food scrap collection programs exist, certified compostable products have the ability to help increase waste diversion while reducing contamination in the finished compost.
We hope that companies like Club Coffee will continue to work with the USCC to not only develop products that are tools for diversion, but also help support the growth of the food scrap collection and processing infrastructure needed to close the loop on products like compostable coffee pods.
The resulting production and land application of high quality compost is essential for the creation of healthy soils and a sustainable society.”
The compostable single-serve pod was developed in conjunction with international experts and scientists at the University of Guelph. The pod will be available to market by late 2015.
John Pigott, CEO of Club Coffee, added, “Science shows that composting is an effective and conscientious solution to this growing environmental problem.
Recycling isn’t a convenient or well-developed solution because hot pods full of coffee grounds must be carefully separated and cleaned before collection.
And biodegradation is too slow of a process, taking centuries to break down the billions of pods in landfills.”
