[Courtesy of Nespresso]
The government of Hamburg banned coffee pods being used from all government buildings in an effort to make the city more environment-friendly.
Coffee pods have been the hot consumer item for years. Sales of coffee pod machines have outpaced drip coffee makers in Europe for the first time in 2013. According to a study from Quartz, one out of every four households in the US owns a coffee pod machine.
Although the coffee pods are easy to use, serve, and also cheaper when compared to espresso and other coffee drinks from franchise coffee shop, but they do leave a mass of plastic trash.
"These portion packs cause unnecessary resource consumption and waste generation, and often contain toxic aluminum," the city government explained why they decided to ban the coffee pods.
According to Keurig, one of the most popular coffee pod maker in Europe, because the pods were designed to withstand heat and pressure during brewing while keeping the coffee fresh, the pods are almost impossible to recycle. They are mostly made out of non-recyclable plastic and aluminum parts.
The company is aware of the environmental damage its products can cause, and are in development of coffee pods which contain more recyclable parts.
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reporter
Park Sae-jin
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