If you crave the taste and convenience of single serve coffee (K-Cups) you aren’t alone. By some estimates, 12 BILLION of them will be sold this year – enough to circle the earth around 13 times! Until now, that meant a lot of waste that was difficult, if not impossible to recycle. But now, thanks to Melitta and Canadian researchers at the University of Guelph’s Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre, a solution is at hand!
PurPod100™ cups are the world’s first single-serve coffee cups* that have been certified 100% compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI).
That means, according to the Melitta website, that “testing shows the pod can break down completely in as little as 5 weeks” That doesn’t necessarily mean every local compost program will accept them. Municipalities and other composting facility operators have their own guidelines for what they accept as being compostable. But many DO automatically accept items that are Certified 100% Compostable by BPI. And testing is underway to see how well the pods break down in home compost situations.
Even with those caveats, the development of a certified compostable coffee pod is big news. But it’s really still all about enjoying great tasting coffee! So if you have been avoiding your Kuerig because you feel bad about pod waste, just pick up some great tasting Melitta pods at London Drugs, compost your leftover pods and you’ll sleep better no matter how many cups you brew.
All Melitta single serve coffee pod varieties at London Drugs feature the new PurPod100™ compostable cup.
*PurPod100™ cups are designed to work with Kuerig 2.0 brewers, and it should be noted that they will work best if the brewer is regularly cleaned and de-scaled.
The new Melitta compostable pods are almost entirely made of plant based material, and the ring is actually made from coffee chaff – a byproduct that is usually wasted!
