Non-Recyclable Disposable Single Cup Coffee Packaging. The K-Cup.

Amanda,
Thanks for having the courage to post this in a public forum.

The issue is not what your company is going to do, but what they are doing now and how this was ever brought to market in the first place.

The information you provided sounds great, but is pretty vague and, in parts, exactly the same as the response at the link from Michael Dupee Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility. Can you speak to his response "we are actively researching alternatives to the petroleum-based materials that make up the K-Cup."? And, as another person asked, does the K-Cup as it stands today contain BPA?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Health_effects

I think most would agree that over 30% Fair Trade coffee is just not good enough.

I'm not one to suggest problems without solutions... so how about this. Discontinue the non-recyclable, non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastic K-Cup ASAP and focus on your sustainable alternative, the "My K-Cup" reusable coffee filter (and also make the "My K-Cup" recyclable). http://www.mykcup.com/

Is your company aware that it's now illegal in some US cities for a company to use styrofoam or plastic bags? Tell your bosses to adapt, it's a whole new consumer world out there.

Packaging is an area of major environmental concern for all consumer product companies. As the single-cup coffee market and our Keurig brewing systems grow in popularity, we understand that the impact of the K-Cup waste stream is one of our most significant environmental challenges. Finding a better approach is a big priority for us. We are working on a few different fronts to improve the environmental characteristics of the K-Cup system, as well as to mitigate its impact.

As we mention on our web site, we commissioned a life-cycle analysis of our three main package types to give us a more concrete scientific understanding of the environmental impacts of our packaging choices, which, in turn, will help us direct our ongoing R&D efforts more effectively. We are hopeful that we will complete this analysis by the end of 2009.

We’re also actively researching alternate materials for the K-Cup portion pack to reduce its environmental impact. The system requirements are pretty rigorous – the package needs to provide an oxygen and moisture barrier as well as a high thermal threshold – so it’s been challenging to find alternatives. However, we’ve had some promising results in recent months with a specific formulation and we are currently testing it in a production setting. If that goes well, we’ll aim to be test marketing it this winter, and then hopefully in market with the new package sometime in 2010.
We are also trying to make progress in other areas while we work on the K-Cup challenge. We continue working to increase our percentage of Fair Trade coffee, which now represents over 30% of our coffee shipped. In addition to the socio-economic benefits Fair Trade certified products provide, these products must meet environmental standards as well, and there are also incentives for farmers for organic conversion, reforestation, water conservation and environmental education. Visit Trans Fair USA’s website for more detailed information on Fair Trade Certification Standards.

We understand the concerns about the K-Cup and will continue to keep our web site up-to-date with our progress on this issue.

Thank you,
Amanda Cooper
Corporate Social Responsibility
GMCR Specialty Coffee Business Unit

just another way to buy oil.

Yeah, why aren't these labeled as Recyclable?

I would also like to know if these contain BPA??

Some people can't look right beneath their noses for the problems they cause, it is sad.