Recycling
OUR COFFEE BAGS ARE CHANGING
Our coffee bags are changing. From April 30 we’re transitioning from compostable to recyclable coffee bag materials. You’ll receive an interim design as the new bags are still in transit. Compostable plastics sound like the perfect solution to the problem of single-use packaging, however, the infrastructure for such is still in its infancy, meaning people and processing facilities in the UK are unprepared to handle compostable plastics.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF YOUR COFFEE BAGS
AT HOME
If you are brewing our coffee at home, simply collect the bags and dispose of them in the soft plastics collection points at many locations across the UK. You can find your nearest soft plastics recycling point here. Regular household collections are also on the way, which will make recycling even easier.
WHOLESALE
If you are a wholesale customer, you can arrange for a soft plastics collection from your waste handler. If this isn’t a service they offer, we recommend contacting First Mile, who can arrange ad-hoc collections whenever you need them.
OUTSIDE OF THE UK
If you are a customer outside of the UK please check your local collections and facilities to process LDPE 4. We hope that our customers will be better able to handle our new packaging suite and keep the materials in circulation for longer.
WHAT OUR COFFEE BAGS ARE MADE OF
Our coffee bags are made from LDPE, with over 70% recycled content, which can be processed as a soft plastic in Recycling Stream 4. The new packaging certified by the Global Recycling Standard (GRS) to be from consumer-recycled sources, and recognised as food safe (by EU food safety standards).
The percentage of recycled content is determined using a mass-balance approach, so we can accurately determine the amount of recycled content in the laminated structure. A mass balance approach is a chain of custody model that is used by industries to track materials through a complex value chain. In principle, it allows the inputs – such as feedstock produced from recycled plastic waste – to be allocated to the outputs from a production process.
WHY WE'VE SWITCHED TO RECYCLABLE PLASTIC
From the outset of our journey 20 years ago, we’ve worked with the mindset to make conscious, considered choices that reduce the overall impact of our products. Every decision made is with sustainability in mind. It might sound counter-intuitive, but this is why we’ve switched from home compostable to recyclable coffee bags. Back in 2022 we made the bold choice to move to home compostable packaging. The decision was made with the outlook to provide a way for everyone, with the aid of a composter, to be able to dispose of the bags correctly, eliminating fossil plastic from the packaging altogether.
THE CASE FOR FURTHER INFRASTRUCTURE
We sourced high-quality coffee bags that were TUV home compostable certified but once in use, we discovered (through research, testing, and feedback) that the valve—an essential component of the coffee bag, was proving too thick to compost. It turns out that the thicker the PLA (the plant-based plastic that lines the paper), the longer it takes to break down, which means that these thicker elements can’t be certified as ‘home’ compostable, but are instead certified as ‘industrially’ compostable. We had relied on our suppliers to make things clear, but there turns out to be inherent issue with the thickness of the coffee valve.
With industrial composting facilities scarce, we didn’t feel it was right to distribute packaging that would be so difficult and complicated to dispose of. With further research, we’re confident in our decision to switch from compostable plastics.
THE PROBLEM WITH COMPOSTABLE PLASTICS
Citizen science experiments using home composters have shown that a significant amount of packaging isn’t breaking down as the manufacturers say it will; it’s taking much longer to break down, and still creating microplastics, which are harmful if they don’t degrade quickly.
On top of this, scientific literature indicates that the composability of packaging isn’t a predictor of environmental performance. In fact, compostable packaging has been shown to have higher environmental impacts when composted than when not composted. These impacts include toxicity, fossil energy, radiation, ecotoxicity, and global warming—it’s startling news, and one of the big drivers in our packaging decision.
The UCL Plastic Waste Innovation Hub, an academic task force analysing compostable packaging, has recommended that home composting isn’t really a viable destination for biodegradable plastics, and with regular collections unlikely to be rolled out any time soon, the consensus is that most packaging (when looking at environmental impact) should be recycled.
There are a few exceptions to this rule: WRAP lists coffee pods as a key application for compostable materials, due to the benefit of diverting coffee grounds to food waste. Therefore, we feel the best material choice for our pods is still certified home compostable bio-plastic. You can dispose of your coffee pods in any home composter, and the coffee will enrich the soil.
THE BENEFITS OF RECYCLED AND RECYCLABLE BAGS
With clear infrastructure in the UK to manage soft plastic recycling, and regular household collections on the horizon, we recognise that there is greater access for all to be able to responsibly dispose of our recycled content coffee bags at home and work. Studies indicate that using increased amounts of recycled content in packaging tends to result in lower environmental impacts when compared against packaging made of the same material with less or no recycled content. Knowing this, we chose to purchase a minimum 70% PCR (post-consumer recycled) content plastic, which fits circular economic models, reduces the need for virgin material production, and reduces the carbon impact of our packaging.