Keurig Coffee Machines

Keurig coffee machines are ubiquitous in office kitchens as well as homes around the world. Keurig’s signature “K-Cups” are found everywhere, ranging from supermarkets, convenience stores, and even online. However, the K-Cup has drastic effects within the environment, and a handful of companies and nonprofits have cracked down on K-Cups’ environmental sustainability. The lifecycle of a K-cup is important to analyze when considering its overall environmental impact. The plastic cup is produced from oil in factory that utilizes a substantial amount of energy, directly contributing to global warming. The K-Cup is then lined with coffee filter and filled with coffee, finally sealed by a plastic foil top. The K-Cup’s are packed together in box
board containers made from trees, and then these containers are packed into a ridged cardboard box to be prepared for shipping. K-Cup boxes then travel land and sea (through ships and trucks) globally to coffee distributors, which requires a large amount of fossil fuel. The K-Cups finally reach the end consumer, who then drops it in the machine, makes a measly one cup of coffee, and throws the K-Cup in the garbage. The trash is then picked up by a garbage truck and transported to the nearest landfill where it produces methane gas, a significant greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, because coffee grounds are not biodegradable. The packaging needed for this Keurig system entails environmental and health costs. Because each pod is individualized, and very easy to throw away, the packaging must also increase at an exponential rate. This packaging ultimately ends up in landfills. Coffee pods a substantial source of plastic chemicals in landfills, and experts believe that these chemicals are contributing to rising health issues on a global scale. Coffee pods also contribute to rising levels of BPA and ocean water (Hermes).
Billions of K-Cups are dumped into landfills annually. However, this number doesn’t consider the amount of aluminum Nespresso pods, Keurig’s competitor. This company doesn’t release statistics regarding how many pods are recycled, although it highly likely that most end up in the landfill. There are almost 20 single-cup coffee system manufacturers in existence, with many more third-parties selling pods that fit into the machines. The amount of waste that ends up in landfills around the Earth simply cannot be quantified. Journalist Murray Carpenter, in his book Caffeinated, claimed that if a row of K Cups produced in 2011 alone would circle the globe more than six times.
Additionally, in 2011, the hashtag “#killthekcup” circulated around Twitter. Using more recent data, Green Mountain produced 8.3 billion K-Cups in 2013, equivalent to 10.5 wraps around the Equator. When asked to comment on the media uproar, Keurig claimed that protests were misguided, and although K-Cups to generate significant waste, single-serve coffee makers use fewer grounds and less water than a traditional drip machines. However, even Keurig acknowledges that greenhouse gas emissions associated with quick method is higher than those associated with brewing the same amount of coffee the old-fashioned way
(Benson). Environmental impacts are not the only reasons why we should ditch the K-Cup.
These pods are made primarily with plastic, and while most experts (including the FDA) state that plastics are perfectly safe when used for food, there is fear. The main fear is projected at a certain type of plastic called BPA, which can cause disruption in hormone functions, especially estrogen. Up until about 7 years ago the FDA claimed the BPA was perfectly safe. However, it recently took back that claim, stating multiple concerns of negative effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate glands in infants. With these recent concerns, there has been more debate on the safety of plastics in general and what affects they truly have when used with foods. A 2011 study, conducted by the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, showed that the majority of plastic products trigger negative estrogen effects. Therefore, passing almost boiling water through plastic pods, and then mixing it with acidic coffee grounds may be a cause for concern (Oatman).
Currently, Green Mountain only makes about 5% of its cups with recyclable plastic. The other 95% are made up of a #6 composite plastic, which is nonrecyclable in most places around the world. For the 5% that can be recycled, the aluminum lid must be separated from the plastic cup, which then must be emptied, in order for the materials to successfully make it through the recycling process. Even if the materials make it through the recycling process, Darby
Hoover, senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, says chances are slim the pod will be recycled due to its miniscule size (Hamblin). As for solutions to this dire problem, the obvious one would be is Keurig could develop a fully recyclable cup. Keurig Green Mountain has made a vow to create an entirely recyclable cup by 2020. However, although the packaging seems rather simple, it is very difficult to redesign. Any new K-Cup needs to have “backward compatibility” – meaning it assumes the same shape as its predecessor and will work with all the old models of machines. New cups also must have a strong oxygen barrier and be rigid and easy to puncture, yet strong enough so it can withstand pressure. However, even if Keurig can develop a fully recyclable cup two main issues remain. First, will consumers remove the foil cap and the inside paper filter before throwing the cup in the recycling bin, and will city recycling programs be able to recycle a cup of such a small size (Alter).