More than a tenth of US households — 12 percent — own single-cup coffee brewers, says the National Coffee Association, and that number is on the rise. But one-cup coffee pods are not easily recyclable, and the coffee industry is looking for more sustainable options, writes Waste & Recycling News. Cafection, a manufacturer of ground and whole bean single cup coffee brewer equipment, says it offers a more environmentally friendly single-serve coffee pod. Products use paper fil­ters, which are biodegrad­able, and they do not use plastic discs. The hybrid packaging of coffee pods — which usually include both plastic and aluminum — makes it difficult for traditional recycling companies to handle, says Albe Zakes, global vice president of public relations at the recycling company TerraCycle. TerraCycle has worked with a variety of coffee manufacturers to create take-back programs and handle the recycling of used pods, diverting millions of them from landfills. Nespresso, for example, worked with TerraCycle to provide a second life for used coffee capsules through the Nespresso Capsule Brigade. Consumers must create a TerraCycle account, ask for supplies online, collect and package their Nespresso capsules, download a free shipping label from TerraCycle, and drop the box off at a UPS location. TerraCycle says the metal capsules are melted down and turned into new aluminum products. Residual coffee is separated and sent to an industrial composting facility.