The leading producers of non-reusable coffee pods are trying to make a dent in the amount of waste flowing into Canadian landfills.
The tricky part is that single-serve pods made by Keurig and Nespresso aren’t easily recycled. Add to that, 40 per cent of Canadians say they have a pod-based coffee machine in their home, according to market researchers NPD Group.
Keurig pods are made of mixed materials — a plastic cup, paper filter, foil top and coffee grounds — and require effort to separate and recycle. Nespresso pods are mainly recyclable aluminum, which must be cleared of grounds.
Keurig coffee pods are now being burned for energy at the Covanta waste-to-energy facility in Burnaby after the closing of the LaFarge cement plant in Kamloops last year.
The LaFarge plant had been taking about 1.4 million plastic Keurig pods recovered each year by Van Houtte Coffee Services and turning them to ash, an ingredient in cement. But that all came to an end late in 2016 when LaFarge permanently shuttered the cement operation.
Pods from Van Houtte are processed by a partner company, Revolution, where the grounds are removed from the cups and used for certified organic compost, according to a Keurig spokesperson.
The plastic cups are incinerated by Covanta to produce electricity and heat.
Brianne Theberge, a resident of Coquitlam, is one of 5,840 Canadians who collect pods for recycling through the Nespresso Capsule Recycling Program.
“I collect Nespresso pods from our family and three other families in my neighbourhood,” she said. “We always felt bad using disposable capsules. It’s a one-time thing and then you throw it out and you feel bad about it. The problem is that we don’t drink enough coffee to make a whole pot.”
The pods are left intact and picked up by a courier each month and sent to TerraCycle Canada, a company that specializes in difficult-to-recycle packaging.
“We had been Nespresso users for years and then I got a letter in the mail from Nespresso about the recycling program,” she said. I thought, ‘It looks pretty easy, so I’m going to sign up.’ ”
Theberge collects pods — grounds included — from three of her neighbours, who deposit them on her porch once a month. She has collected more than 3,000 capsules for the program, which has diverted 9,659,604 capsules in Canada, according to Veronica Rajadnya of TerraCycle.
According to TerraCycle, plastics are washed, shredded and pelletized for use in manufacturing while the metals are smelted for reuse. Residual coffee is composted.
All single-use pods are accepted for recycling in British Columbia if the consumer first removes and disposes of the foil top and coffee grounds, according to Multi-Material B.C.
Reliable figures are hard to find, but Keurig confirms selling 57 billion pods worldwide to date.
PUR Water Filtration Pitchers and Faucet Filtration Systems, from Helen of Troy Health and Home, officially launches on World Water Day (March 22, 2017) at an event featuring Dr. David Suzuki as guest of honour and keynote speaker.
Dr. David Suzuki will address the individual responsibility each Canadian has to the environment, and more specifically water quality.
Mr. Michael Mitchell from PUR, will discuss the next generation of water filtration systems certified to remove 99% of lead, and more specifically, MAXION® Filter Technology – PUR’s unique formulation approach for blending carbon and ion exchange materials for maximum contaminant reduction.
TerraCycle will officially launch and discuss its corporate and environmental responsibility partnership with PUR.
El proyecto requerirá 2.600 toneladas de plástico al año, por lo que la empresa contará con el apoyo de dos organizaciones que se dedican al reciclaje y la limpieza de las playas y oceános: TerraCycle y SUEZ.
H&s pertenece a la multinacional P&G, que ha anunciado también que en 2018 producirá ya medio billón de botellas de productos (un 90% del total de botellas que vende la marca en Europa) hechas con hasta un 25% de plástico reciclado.
Desde P&G afirman que confían en que su apuesta anime al resto de la industria a hacer lo mismo y que creen que su iniciativa “hace más sencillo a los consumidores elegir productos más sostenibles sin sacrificar nada”.
Assista o vídeo da reportagem sobre o programa de reciclagem no TJPA no G1!
¡Hola!
De parte de la SAIDS los invitamos el Lunes 27 de Marzo a la plática "The Great Value of Your Waste", sobre la eliminación de la idea de la basura. Nos acompaña Michael Waas, Vicepresidente Global de Asociaciones de Marca de TerraCycle. La conferencia será impartida en inglés.
A continuación encontrarán una liga para el registro del evento, es muy importante hacer uso de ella ya que habrá cupo limitado.
¡Los esperamos!
http://bit.ly/2lRZqrY
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Greetings,
On behalf of SAIDS we would like to invite you this Monday, March 27th to the conference "The Great Value of Your Waste", on the elimination of the idea of garbage. We will be joined by Michael Waas, Global Vice-president of Brand Partnership at TerraCycle.
Below you will find a registration form for the event; it is crucial to register prior to the event as there will be limited space in the venue.
We look forward to seeing you!
http://bit.ly/2lRZqrY
在環保這個議題上，一出手就知道有沒有，相較聯合利華的口頭承諾，P&G倒是有誠意許多，直接提出具體包裝設計。該集團選出旗下的海倫仙度絲，試行環保包裝瓶，而且還從海灘上的塑料垃圾著手，直接取用為原料，在瓶身材料中占比更高達25%。此外，海倫仙度絲還將與家樂福合作推出一款洗髮精，瓶身由美國廢物回收公司TerraCycle和法國環保能源集團Suez聯合生產，不用等到下個10年，P&G希望在2018年底，將洗護髪品牌的再生塑料瓶比例提升至90%，并擴及至潘婷等旗下其他品牌。
PUR Water Filtration Pitchers and Faucet Filtration Systems, from Helen of Troy Health and Home, officially launches on World Water Day (March 22, 2017) at an event featuring Dr. David Suzuki as guest of honour and keynote speaker.
Dr. David Suzuki will address the individual responsibility each Canadian has to the environment, and more specifically water quality.
Mr. Michael Mitchell from PUR, will discuss the next generation of water filtration systems certified to remove 99% of lead, and more specifically, MAXION® Filter Technology – PUR’s unique formulation approach for blending carbon and ion exchange materials for maximum contaminant reduction.
TerraCycle will officially launch and discuss its corporate and environmental responsibility partnership with PUR.
