With large international brands driving the coffee pod market with coffee capsules (“coffee capsules” are the plastic containers that hold coffee and fit into coffee pod machines) which are made from materials that are not eco-friendly, Vibe Coffee decided to work with international coffee capsule suppliers who specialise in the manufacture 100% biodegradable materials.
The Vibe Coffee pod is 100% biodegradable and is designed to perfectly fit into Nespresso® capsule system machines.
Why is being 100% biodegradable important?
A few years ago, research proved that there were over 10 billion coffee pods sold around the world. This translates to 120,000 tonnes of waste globally, disposed into landfills. While there is some momentum to move to biodegradable coffee capsule materials, the larger brands are still not there.
This is why Vibe Coffee has made the effort.
But how does this actually work? How are these capsules capable of breaking down?
The characteristics of being Biodegradable:
These coffee capsules comprise the following characteristics to explain how and why it’s eco-friendly.
The Vibe Coffee pod has three characteristics….
#1. The Vibe Coffee pod is Biodegradable:
This means the degradation of the materials which make up the Vibe Coffee capsule is completed by microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, algae) to carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts, and biomass.
#2. The Vibe Coffee pod is Compostable:
The Vibe Coffee capsule material is biodegradable through composting which means it’s capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site.
#3. The Vibe Coffee pod is “Biobased”:
The Vibe coffee capsule material is derived from plants (biomass).
Not all coffee pods are created equal! Large international brands are hoping their brand strength is enough to keep people coming back to purchase their products. The reason they don’t change is due to using biodegradable coffee capsules (and lids) is more expensive.
Change isn’t going to come from large organisations, it comes from the people who engage with them. Vibe Coffee hopes you consider this the next time you need your coffee fix:)
