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Keurig Spends 10 Years Developing A Recyclable Coffee Cup (boston.com) 299

Posted by EditorDavid from the unfiltered-news dept.
Last year Keurig Green Mountain sold over 9 billion single servings of its coffee in plastic "K-Cups" -- none of which could be recycled. "Placed end to end, the pods sold in a year would circle the globe roughly 10 times," reports the New York Times News Service, noting the company spent the last 10 years developing a backwards-compatible cup that could actually be recycled. In the mid-1990s, "Keurig began buying the containers -- made from a blend of plastic that is tough to recycle -- in bulk, never expecting that it would one day sell billions a year. But because Keurig machines were designed specifically for the pods, changing course soon seemed virtually impossible." One environmental advocate complained "There are a lot of ways to make coffee that don't use so much packaging. Making coffee wasn't something that needed to be reinvented." But the company may still face criticism because their new cups can be recycled -- but not composted.
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Keurig Spends 10 Years Developing A Recyclable Coffee Cup

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  • Hmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17, 2016 @08:32PM (#51928981)

    Funny, because every time I get coffee from one of those little cups it taste like it's already been composted.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GNious ( 953874 )

      So it's better than ca all other "beverages" called coffee?

  • You don't have to use keurig brand cups (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fragMasterFlash ( 989911 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @08:41PM (#51929013)
    These k-cup compatible pods [sanfrancis...coffee.com] are ~90% biodegradable. Keurig should license their design post haste.

    • Re:You don't have to use keurig brand cups (Score:5, Interesting)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @09:41PM (#51929173)

      These k-cup compatible pods [sanfrancis...coffee.com] are ~90% biodegradable. Keurig should license their design post haste.

      Those are the ones we buy, actually. On Amazon they're relatively inexpensive ("relative" to other K-cups... not the good ol' coffee pot).

      I was against getting a Keurig, but my wife really wanted one - so I eventually relented. I really hate the thing. It probably makes more sense for people who don't drink much coffee; but, if you were a pot-a-day family, the cost of replacing that with a Keurig is ludicrous. We're spending easily $50 a month, just on coffee! And it doesn't seem like those things actually save you any effort - it's just that it's spaced out throughout the day. If it made really good coffee, that might sway me... but it's worse than brewing a pot.

      I like to tell people that, if my wife pre-deceases me, even before I call the mortician I'm putting that Keurig in the trash. I hate it that much.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by PopeRatzo ( 965947 )

        I like to tell people that, if my wife pre-deceases me, even before I call the mortician I'm putting that Keurig in the trash. I hate it that much.

        I hear you. They make bad coffee, are more expensive and mess up the environment.

        You get a french press and you don't even have to buy filters. Hell, I can still make a decent cup in an old fashioned percolator that'll taste better than a k-cup machine.

        • Hell, I can still make a decent cup in an old fashioned percolator that'll taste better than a k-cup machine.

          Yes - percolators can make excellent coffee when made by people who know what they are doing. I've made some great stuff in a perc on a old Coleman's stove that gets raves.

          • Apart from filling with decent coffee of the correct grind, how do you need to know what you're doing? My inlaws have and olde fashinde percolator---ceramic 1960s thing and it's great. You load with decent coffee[*] hit go and when it stops thunking you get a great cup of coffee out. Easy to clean too. I really don't understand why they've gone so far out of use.

            [*] It's not in the fashion here to have coffee grinders in supermarkets, so you either have to grind your own or go to a specialist vendor of coff

            • Apart from filling with decent coffee of the correct grind, how do you need to know what you're doing? My inlaws have and olde fashinde percolator---ceramic 1960s thing and it's great. You load with decent coffee[*] hit go and when it stops thunking you get a great cup of coffee out. Easy to clean too.

              That was probably an electric perk? I always forget about those, so you are right about that. I've seen people who think they have to boil their perc coffee. Put that brat on high and uck. Which is what I was thinking about.

              I really don't understand why they've gone so far out of use.

              Marketing maybe? I dunno - in a world where people go to great lengths to make the Barista jump though hoops, that the tiny bit of technique needed for perking coffee - even less if an electric perk - doesn't make sense.

              I also kind of hate the in-store grinders because someone always ends up putting that nasty flavoured syrup coated shit in the grinder which contaminates everything else with its nasty flavour.

              Now THAT's disgusting! Is there some rationale for that, rather th

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by KGIII ( 973947 )

          My brother has one of 'em and uses some odd brand. Buggered if I know what the brand is but it's a medium-dark roast that they usually buy. It's actually not bad - I'd almost call it good. He gets them through the company he works for. They have the machine(s) in the office and some company delivers 'em. He orders a case of 'em through that same company - so it's not some rare, upper-market, stuff.

      • It probably makes more sense for people who don't drink much coffee; but, if you were a pot-a-day family, the cost of replacing that with a Keurig is ludicrous. We're spending easily $50 a month, just on coffee! And it doesn't seem like those things actually save you any effort - it's just that it's spaced out throughout the day. If it made really good coffee, that might sway me... but it's worse than brewing a pot.

        I like to tell people that, if my wife pre-deceases me, even before I call the mortician I'm putting that Keurig in the trash. I hate it that much.

        Exactly.

        Where we have our board meetings, the people have one of these. Nothing more annnoying than taking half the meeting just to get everyone a cup. It's the decision whether to get coffee early, and have it get cold while you politely wait for everyone else to get a hot cup but smell it for a long time before you can get it. Soooo convenient a solution to the age old problem of making a pot timed to be finished right before the meeting starts, and everyone getting a cup at the same time. It is medi

        • The more expensive drip filter machines have a vacuum flask for storing the coffee rather than a hot plate. As a result, the coffee doesn't taste burned if you leave it for a while (but does stay hot for a few hours) and, as a result, you don't even need to time it particularly carefully for the start of the meeting.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by KGIII ( 973947 )

          It's okay. I actually *like* a brand of instant coffee. Taster's Choice. Yup... I well and truly like it. It's not even a "don't mind it" situation but an actual like. I buy it on a regular basis and it's great for when I just want a cup of coffee or have a desire for that specifically. Just plain ol' Taster's Choice, some cream, and a little sugar. Sometimes, just black. Sometimes just cream. Never just sugar.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        You can buy single cup coffee machines that make small cups of coffee. They have a bean hopper for pre-roasted unground beans and they grind them, press water through them and dispense a cup of coffee.

        Basically the convenience of a Keurig, with no waste (the grounds can be composted directly). You just need to keep it filled with beans and water.

        They work almost like an espresso machine, except they are a general coffee machine which can make espresso, or regular coffee.

        The only catch is they are EXPENSIVE.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hvdh ( 1447205 )

          Those machines seem to be expensive in the US. In Germany, you can buy 10 different models for under 270€ (= 305 USD, including 19% VAT), and some time last year, Amazon Germany listed several models for around 200 USD. I bought one for 180€, and the ROI vs. coffee cups was within a year.

        • I have a Breville coffee machine that lets you either make a single cup (which lets you adjust the amount of coffee for the size of the cup) or a pot of coffee (again you can specify the number of cups brewed). You can adjust the strength of the brew. It grinds the beans and has a water reservoir like you mention.

          It's not cheap but if you go to Amazon and use a browser extension from CamelCamelCamel you can take a look at the price history and then set up a price watch to get it when it goes on sale.

          And you

      • Seriously, if you want good coffee, just buy the cheapest espresso machine you can (about $100-150 new, half that second hand) and spend 15mins watching some instruction videos. Once you have this all you need to buy is bags of pre-ground beans (or if you what better-than-many-cafe-quality, buy a grinder and roast raw beans on your stove) and you can make a hipster grade latte - including the milk art fern - in a couple of minutes for around 10c.

        I have friends who bought expensive pod coffee machines, and t

        • I have friends who bought expensive pod coffee machines, and their coffee is rubbish. They also have all these weird contraptions to aerate and heat the milk. When I suggest they try using an espresso machine, they always go on about how making coffee with one is really hard because you have to do a professional barrista training course. This is just buying into the whole hipster hype.

          Not at all. Well it depends.

          Your $100 espresso machine includes high pressure pump and back pressure regulators in the group head that ensure that there's a consistent draw through the coffee beans regardless of the skill of the operator. And they will get you about 90% of the way there to an excellent espresso with no training required.

          However if you go the whole 9 yards and get yourself a really decent espresso machine you get no hand holding. Expect to spend $300 on a very entry level grinder capable of

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by swb ( 14022 )

            That seems really counter-intuitive. A cheap espresso machine is actually a better machine that produces a more consistent cup than an expensive machine, which also requires expensive accessories like micro fine adjustments?

            Whenever I have engaged in the fantasy of an at-home espresso machine and actually wasted the time of the apparently knowledgeable specialty kitchen store employees, it always looked like the more you spent, the more likely you were to get consistently good espresso with less effort. T

  • Or you could use paper cups instead (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jsse ( 254124 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @08:57PM (#51929065) Homepage Journal
    It might surprise some hardcore environmentalists that using paper cups, or just using more paper on anything else, might be more environment friendly than you might imagine. (The following facts might be considered as flamebait again but please read on with patient before you mod.)

    Papers are not made from cutting wood in rain forest anymore (some furniture, on the other hand, still are). 95% of the raw materials in paper are coming from trees, and these trees are carefully planned to grow and harvest. Various "Tree Funds" were raised every 10-15 years for raising money in building such tree farms.

    Unfortunately, these "Tree Funds" are very sensitive to market. When there are less demand in papers, these funds would diminish, and in turn less tree farms would be built. Less tree farms, less trees, less oxygen-producers, more carbon dioxide, more severe the green house effect and so forth.

    Encouraging paper-saving would probably lead to more green house gases. The irony...
    • Or you could use a single cup Melitta [amazon.com] and a permanent filter [amazon.com]. Or the all-in-one Frieling [amazon.com].

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vovin ( 12759 )

      Papers are not made from cutting wood in rain forest anymore

      Paper never was ... as such a thing was never economically viable.

      For the last, oh, 80 years at least, all paper has been made from trees grown for paper and lumber mills.
      Oh and your recycled paper? It is *more* environmentally destructive to produce, and will always be. Re-use it, compost it, or burn it.

      • Oh and your recycled paper? It is *more* environmentally destructive to produce, and will always be. Re-use it, compost it, or burn it.

        Why? Not having looked into the processes involved in exhaustive detail, my naive understanding is that you make recycled paper by shredding and bleaching old paper. To make new paper, you need to plant trees, let them grow, then cut them down, mulch them, add a few other things and then go through basically the same process as making recycled paper. What are the extra processes involved in making recycled paper that aren't required for new paper and offset the other costs?

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by maeka ( 518272 )

          What are the extra processes involved in making recycled paper that aren't required for new paper

          There are no extra processes except the less efficient collection, sorting, and delivery to the mill of post consumer paper from disperse sources. But I rather suspect that is not what GPP is pointing to as "more enviromentally destructive", rather I suspect it is the massive increase in bleaching needs for PCR paper.

          "Deinking" takes a lot more bleach than raw wood fibers do.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by KGIII ( 973947 )

        > For the last, oh, 80 years at least, all paper has been made from trees grown for paper and lumber mills.

        No, it's not. Source: I own a shit-ton of old paper mill property. There's still plenty of natural regrowth that is harvested, not from farms. Some wood is still actively harvested from the land I own and some of that goes to the paper mill in Jay, Maine. Some of it is replant but not all, not even close to all. This is not unique, there are many others just like mine. The trees weren't grown for pa

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

      Paper is good but paper cups often have a plastic lining to keep them waterproof.
      I don't know how environment-friendly it is.

  • Reuseable K-Cup insert (Score:5, Informative)

    by Todd Knarr ( 15451 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @09:04PM (#51929081) Homepage

    There are inserts that fit the Keurigs that you can fill with your own ground coffee, then empty after it's brewed. I'd love to use them, it'd give me a wider variety of coffees. The only problem is that none of them seal properly, water and grounds come out the top and make a mess and the leakage interferes with the brewing. If Keurig really wanted to solve the problem, put the research into modifying the MyK-Cup so it seals properly and the water flows through the grounds rather than off the top and through the open mesh screen.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by unrtst ( 777550 )

      There are inserts that fit the Keurigs that you can fill with your own ground coffee, then empty after it's brewed. I'd love to use them, it'd give me a wider variety of coffees.

      These have been around forever in a slightly larger size in the form of any-other-coffee-maker-ever.

      AFAICT, there are 2.5 selling points to the Keurigs:
      1. single cup. It's possible to do this with many other coffee makers / techniques, but the big 12 cup drip machines do this poorly.
      2. no messing with grinding, measuring, filling grounds, and cleaning them up. Just pop it in, brew, and chuck it out when done. This feature goes away if you refill or manually fill.
      2.5. water hookups / reservoir. This is great

      • I have a Breville coffee machine. It can brew a single cup at a time (adjustable for the type of cup) or a carafe where you can specify the number of cups to brew. It grinds the beans for you and has a 12 cup reservoir. After you make your coffee all you have to do is dump the used coffee grounds and wash the permanent filter. Every now and then you top up the water and beans depending on usage.

        Day to day I just make one cup at a time. But when I have company over I use the carafe and make a pot. Always t

      • 2. no messing with grinding, measuring, filling grounds, and cleaning them up. Just pop it in, brew, and chuck it out when done. This feature goes away if you refill or manually fill.

        My wife uses a reusable pod with her Keurig. She cleans out the old grounds, measures new ones in, and pops the pod back into the Keurig. The total time for this is about half a minute. Spending that extra time saves us a lot of money, results in less trash, and gives my wife a better cup of coffee.

        Of course, Keurig isn't loo

    • There are inserts that fit the Keurigs that you can fill with your own ground coffee, then empty after it's brewed. I'd love to use them, it'd give me a wider variety of coffees. The only problem is that none of them seal properly, water and grounds come out the top and make a mess and the leakage interferes with the brewing. If Keurig really wanted to solve the problem, put the research into modifying the MyK-Cup so it seals properly and the water flows through the grounds rather than off the top and through the open mesh screen.

      I use a 3rd party reusable filter basket. It seals very good, I forget the brand name, but I know I got it at Wal-Mart and it's red plastic with a fine mesh screen, and hinged flip top. I've never had it leak grounds into my cup, and I've probably made well over a thousand cups of coffee with it and it's still working perfectly. They were a little pricey ($10 I think?) but well worth it. The reusable filter basket that Keurig makes isn't very good for the reasons you pointed out.

      I fished a bit for you o

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Meanwhile (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Crashmarik ( 635988 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @09:07PM (#51929085)

    http://www.amazon.com/Ekobrew-... [amazon.com]

    Someone came up with the idea of a refillable K-Cup

    You really want to do something about the "Problem" there you go. Otherwise you can buy "Recyclable" K-Cups that never will be.

    Me I just use these things

    http://www.amazon.com/Braun-Pe... [amazon.com]

    Damned if I am going to pay two bucks a cup when all is said and done for coffee I make myself.

    • Re:Meanwhile (Score:4, Insightful)

      by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @11:07PM (#51929465) Journal
      I feel like going through the effort of re-filling a k-cup kind of defeats the purpose (which is convenience). At that point, you might as well get an espresso machine.
      • Except an espresso machine will cost a LOT more. Also, using your own grounds costs a lot less (no more 50 cents+ for 5-10 cents of stale grounds), you can grind fresh if you want, you can use whatever coffee you want, etc. Bottom line: a lot cheaper, better for the environment, and is actually more convenient in some ways. (And if you buy a number of reusable filter inserts, you just rinse quickly and throw in the dishwasher). Personally I hate Keurigs but I was given one quite a few years back... And

  • The Original Recyclable Coffee Machine (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jshackney ( 99735 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @09:16PM (#51929107) Homepage

    Bialetti Moka Express:

    • reusable
    • makes coffee you can taste
    • makes one cup at a time
    • grounds are easily recycled

    • I've got one, it's nice. It's a little faffier than a cafetiere though. I've also seen someone use an aeropress in my office. That seems to be more or less self cleaning too which is nice, though you need a stack of those disposable filters for it.

  • assholes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by supernova87a ( 532540 ) <kepler1@NoSpaM.hotmail.com> on Sunday April 17, 2016 @09:53PM (#51929205)
    Let's not be such eager shills for Keurig's attempts to fix up its image, shall we? Their priority isn't doing good for the environment or the customer, it's doing whatever it takes to makes customers think that they're doing good for the environment -- so that they recover their sales revenues after the customer-fucking DRM attempt with Keurig 2.0 that got them tarred and feathered.
  • Keurig Spends 10 Years Trying to Develop A Recyclable Coffee Cup

  • The first thing that came to mind is make them out of metal. Metals are infinitely recyclable, unlike paper or plastic. The other requirements seems to be met, rigidity, air tight, and compatible with the foil tops they use now.

    I imagine the problem is cost. Common metals for food storage are aluminum, copper/brass, and steel. These metals are expensive. Cheaper metals, like lead, would be a big fail.

    I believe the problem is less about finding a material that works but one that works and is as cheap as

    • ..little more spendy, but a damn nice cup of espresso.

      • But even worse environmentally. Those aluminium pods are theoretically recyclable, but since they're full of spent coffee grounds you can't throw them in with other aluminium trash, so they get chucked in the bin and end up in landfill. It's a massive waste of energy, as Aluminium takes a lot of energy to produce, yet far less to recycle.

        Nespresso "commercial" is the perfect solution. Tamped espresso UFO-shaped pods made of a mylar-like material. Not recyclable but not a lot of waste either.

  • San Francisco Bay Organic OneCup [costco.com]

    They claim their cups are 99% recyclable and I love how you're not brewing hot coffee through plastic which never tastes good IMHO! Our household buys these in bulk every few months.

  • Good for Keurig/Green Mountain. A quick Googling shows the average North American consumes 139 kg/person/year, so this will be a bit of a drop in the bucket. But every bit does help.

    For all the people saying Keurig isn't the best coffee out there: well, no shit. It's sold for convenience. You press a button and coffee comes out - coffee that I would call "passable" rather than "bad." Afterwards there's no cleanup. There's a reason that it's popular, and it isn't mass delusion.

  • Green hypocrisy (Score:4, Insightful)

    by PapayaSF ( 721268 ) on Sunday April 17, 2016 @11:26PM (#51929519) Journal
    So, people who say they "care about the planet" insist on drinking a beverage made from beans grown thousands of miles away, but the real problem is the way they make their beverage, after those beans are shipped thousands of miles to them...?

  • ...have long since solved this issue with biodegradable pods. Keurig must just be idiots.

    http://www.sanfranciscobaycoff... [sanfrancis...coffee.com]

  • First world problems... Must be the first time I heard of Keurig, or that they make anything special in the way of coffee.

    What's wrong with a good old plunger pot? Can't imagine much more convenience over boiling some water and pouring it in. My model works well for anything from one to three cups. And the only waste - grounds and some water - should be completely compatible with my compost pile. (Oh, there is the bag the beans come in, which needs disposal after quite a lot of cups of coffee).

    On top of t

    • Keurig makes fancy machines that produce a hot brown vaguely coffee-like liquid. Its main selling point is ease of use.

      I cannot understand why people insist on using these worthless capsule machines (including "Nespresso" and "Senseo" and whatever the hell they're called), when there are so many other far superior options for making proper coffee. If you're too lazy to use a Moka pot, a French press or an Aeropress, you really shouldn't be walking upright.

  • Dang I would hate to be on that development team. Job security I guess. Now they will likely be working on a version that can be tossed into the compost pile. Why not make it edible? A nice snack to go with your coffee?

    • Dang I would hate to be on that development team. Job security I guess. Now they will likely be working on a version that can be tossed into the compost pile. Why not make it edible? A nice snack to go with your coffee?

      Why not just make the cups out of coffee?

  • "Keurig Spends 10 Years Developing A Recyclable Coffee Cup"

    The duration indicating that this was a low to no priority project for the company.

  • Just make cups the exact same shape and size out of a better material? Why can they not do that?

  • 1. I've long thought that making them from something like coconut husk would make a great alternative. Then you just plop a blueberry seed thru the hole, and shove it in the ground. Next thing you know....you've got a plant growing.

    2. I always laugh about the talk of waste. You see, Keurig cups did NOT create more waste. Keurig cups largely replaced purchased coffee like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. If you look at a Starbucks coffee. (see provided link: https://cdn4.iconfinder.com/da... [iconfinder.com]) you will notice

  • "But the company may still face criticism because their new cups can be recycled -- but not composted."

    Often I find that the environmental types (not the scientists who are environmentalists) are often pressure companies so much that they will end up doing nothing. When a company tries to do the right thing, they should be rewarded for it, not shunned because they couldn't go all the way. The key problem is there are tradeoffs that happen, and will the consumers be willing to take those tradeoffs. A comp

  • There are a million ways to make it all better and many non authorized kcup sellers already do this.

    And those that bitch and moan... it's the fucking closest we have right now to a star trek system to make coffee. I pick what I want put in the pod and go. Granted I have a commercial one at home plumbed into the water and it turns on and off with a timer so it's ready at 6am for me and turns off at 9am to save power.

    Granted it's not the beard wearing trendly where you hand grind the organic cat poop bean

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