
Turns out coffee pods are pretty good for the environment (2019) - softwaredoug
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/coffee-pods-nespresso-recycling
======
lm2s
>According to research by Halo, a British producer of compostable coffee
capsules, every minute about 39,000 of these pods are made worldwide, while up
to 29,000 are dumped in landfill sites.

29 000 every minute.

I find it really hard to believe that this is better than the traditional
espresso.

IMO the way this blog post is written makes it seem sponsored by capsule
manufacturers, which have huge margins versus traditional espresso.

~~~
softwaredoug
29,000 every minute, compared to however much grounds/filter waste used to
make drip coffee.

~~~
gambiting
Obviously capsules still have grounds in them, they have to be washed before
recycling first. And filters are usually made out of waxed paper which
decomposes quickly.

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gen3
Interesting article. It really does highlight how “just put it in a landfill”
can be a legitimate strategy.

What about the carbon footprint if the coffee is brewed with renewable energy?
Depending on how you brew your coffee, I can see pods scoring worse as they
would have the hard to recycle plastic waste, vs none at all.

Also, what about the health impact of micro plastics leached when the capsules
get heated up?

What about the extra shipping costs of all these little pods vs a bulk
purchase of beans from a local shop? The big bag is more efficient to ship.

~~~
softwaredoug
Would aluminum pods leach micro plastics?

~~~
gen3
Presumably not, unless there was a plastic coating of some sort. The Nespresso
pods in the article mentioned a silicon coating on their metal pods. I don’t
have an idea if that would leach or not.

Since the recycling process for those metal pods is such a pain, I can see
them acting pretty much the same as plastic when it comes to an environmental
impact, other then possible leaching. (Not to mention to recycle them they
need to be shipped to a special facility)

~~~
adfm
Have you seen the Nessie Press recycler tool? It's a manual tool that cleanly
removes the grounds from the pod in one quick motion, so it can make it into
your household recycling along with the aluminum cans. I'm surprised Nestlé
doesn't include one in the box.
[https://www.upress.coffee/](https://www.upress.coffee/)

~~~
gen3
I have not! Thats pretty awesome. I must confess I don't actually own a coffee
machine; a kettle and french press does all I need!

~~~
adfm
Everybody has their preference. FYI, you might consider checking out the
AeroPress[1] if you're a french press user. I find that it delivers some of
the best coffee I've ever had, while providing a similar coffee making
experience. Since it uses a paper filter, you won't get as much cafestol and
kahweol in your cup (it's the bad kind of cholesterol [2]). Not to bag on
french press; I find it pleasing.

Edit: Neglected to mention for anyone seeing this that Pete's Nespresso
pods[3] include a paper filter under the aluminum foil, so if you're concerned
about filtering out the less desirable compounds, those are the pods to look
for.

[1]: [https://aeropress.com/](https://aeropress.com/)

[2]: [https://voltagecoffee.com/is-french-press-coffee-bad-for-
you...](https://voltagecoffee.com/is-french-press-coffee-bad-for-you/)

[3]: [https://www.peets.com/coffee/espresso-
capsules](https://www.peets.com/coffee/espresso-capsules)

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Kaibeezy
No way Nespresso pods are lined with _silicon_ , right? Maybe _silicone_?
There are a bunch of sites repeating “silicon” and several others saying “food
grade lacquer”.

Pedantry assistance appreciated.

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crazygringo
It's an interesting argument, but it doesn't address how you balance
electricity usage, biodegradable waste, and non-biodegradable waste.

Let's assume the article is correct and coffee pods result in more efficient
use of the coffee. How much more efficient does this have to be to balance out
all the extra plastic?

Just comparing the energy needed for growing/processing coffee and
manufacturing pods isn't enough. How do you factor in all the pod waste? What
is the metric there?

The article argues that recycling coffee pods is feasible... but I've never
heard of anyone actually doing that, and I don't see how they ever would.

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mrpopo
I didn't assess the study itself, but it focuses on the wrong metric. Even if
a single coffee pod were to be more CO2-efficient than an espresso from an
espresso machine, the popularity and consumerist approach makes it so that you
will have more coffee (rebound effect). Without a nespresso machine in the
office or at home, would you walk out to the coffee shop for a coffee 3 times
a day?

Coffee is made from an exotic plant and should be treated as a special treat,
not a "brain enhancing" commodity like it is today. If people had this
mindset, it wouldn't matter how you brew your coffee.

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undersuit
>And according to new research, recyclable aluminium pods are more
environmentally friendly than all other capsules, whether they are made from
plastic or compostable materials.

What's the environmental impact of large burlap bags or those small
aluminum/plastic bags that hold less than a pound? Just as good as any other
solution that doesn't require customers to recycle?

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dragontamer
> His team found that instant coffee comes out best, but that capsules are the
> runner up in the environmental impact stakes. Filter or drip coffee comes
> third, while traditional espresso has the worst environmental impact. “The
> impact, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water and fertiliser use, mostly
> occurs where the coffee is grown,” says Hill. “Capsules tend to need less
> coffee input to make a single drink and so their overall impact can be lower
> even though we see more waste when we throw them away.”

I find it difficult to believe that the 2 tablespoons-of-coffee per 8-oz cup
has a bigger environmental impact than the plastic-bit.

I think I see the argument, but its hard for me to agree to it.

EDIT: Hmm... there's a cool heuristic that I always go back to whenever we
start measuring small things. Assume all weights have the same environmental
impact: because the biggest user of greenhouse gasses is the truck (or boat,
or train) used to transport the material.

EDIT: So 2-tablespoons of coffee weighs ~10-grams. The article quotes 5.7
grams of coffee per capsule. How heavy is the capsule? If the capsule itself
is 4.3 grams (or less), then maybe you're saving energy on transportation
costs.

EDIT: My bet however, is that a bag of coffee beans delivers the greatest
coffee-to-weight ratio and is the most environmentally sound. Coffee Filters
are extremely light, and there are steel mesh reusable filters if you care
about the environmental impact of disposable paper filters.

\-----------

> Aside from the environmental impact of growing beans in the first place, the
> second biggest hit is the energy it takes to brew coffee. That’s why
> barista-made espresso fares so badly in terms of its environmental
> footprint: a lot of energy is needed to brew just a tiny single espresso
> cup. Capsules, on the other hand, are more efficient. The coffee machines
> only flash-heat the amount of water needed for one portion, unlike, for
> example, boiling a kettle.

Cold brew for the win? I actually prefer cold brew whenever I do things myself
for taste reasons. (Less bitterness). Cold brew is also more convenient: I
pull it out of the fridge, then drink without any wait time.

\----------

> Sebastien Humbert, an expert in life-cycle assessment studies at Quantis, a
> company that works with many organisations to improve their sustainability,
> cautions that if you take a responsible consumer — not an average consumer —
> then it is possible to make drip-filter coffee with less negative impact
> than capsules, albeit just ever so slightly. “However, if you are an
> irresponsible consumer, if your drip filter machine is very inefficient, if
> you leave it on, if you make more coffee than necessary, then you can make
> drip-filter coffee significantly worse than capsules,” he says.

Okay: so it seems like they're assuming irresponsible and wasteful behavior on
behalf of drip-coffee makers.

~~~
gen3
> Okay: so it seems like they're assuming irresponsible and wasteful behavior
> on behalf of drip-coffee makers.

Not to mention it ignores the other ways of consuming coffee, such as pour-
over or French press.

~~~
softwaredoug
I think they are saying that in those cases, you'll likely boil a whole pot of
water, which takes a lot of energy compared to flash-heating just the water
needed.

I didn't see a comparison to automatic espresso machines, which I would assume
would be similar in energy/water use to a capsule maker, but without the
capsule waste.

~~~
gambiting
I make all of my coffee in a mokka pot, every morning - so it boils exactly as
much water as fits in my mug, nothing more. And it doesn't consume any
materials, the whole thing is stainless steel with a rubber gasket which I
just rinse under the tap after every use.

~~~
blaser-waffle
Aye, same here.

Rubber gaskets last a long time, too. I've replaced them once in 5 years. You
can get a 3-pack off of Amazon for like ~$8 bucks or less.

Don't have to boil tons of water, not tossing out anything except grounds, and
generally get a better coffee than via drip.

As as of the grounds: I have an old coffee tin, one of the big ole "chock
fulla nuts" ones, that I put the old grounds in. Eventually they end up in a
compost pile outside, with all of my veggie choppings and lawn clippings.

~~~
dragontamer
> As as of the grounds: I have an old coffee tin, one of the big ole "chock
> fulla nuts" ones, that I put the old grounds in. Eventually they end up in a
> compost pile outside, with all of my veggie choppings and lawn clippings.

I don't have a yard, so I can't compost. But it should be noted that coffee
grounds are one of the most ideal items to compost.

Most people's compost piles are Carbon-heavy, but Coffee Grounds are (just
slightly) nitrogen-heavy. So with a mix of some carbon-heavy items (paper,
leaves, etc. etc.) you're all set.

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downrightmike
Everything that comes out of these pods tastes like plastic to me. I can't see
the attraction.

