PROBLEM
Coffee. It’s how millions of us start every day. More and more of us are using convenient Keurig® brewers and K-Cup® pods to deliver our delicious morning brew. The truth is most people are not aware that these little pods are not recyclable when they are intact. Sadly, most of the coffee pods end up in landfills, not decomposing. This is a growing and significant environmental concern. Just look at the numbers*:
- Nearly 30% of US households own a single serve brewer
- An estimated 20 billion pods will be consumed this year and most will wind up in landfills
- That’s enough waste to circle the earth nearly 12 times
SOLUTION
Now, the reality is you CAN recycle the pods if the plastic, aluminum and coffee grounds are separated with the Recycle A Cup® cutter. In just a few easy steps, you will be able to recycle your K-Cup® pod plastic & foil and even use the grinds as compost…it’s just that simple! In fact, Recycle A Cup has been featured in Real Simple magazine as a great way to make over un-ecofriendly habits!
HOW IT WORKS
Medelco’s Recycle A Cup cutter is an innovative solution to this problem. The patented device allows for easy separation of single serve coffee pods, including K-Cup© pods, with just three quick and easy steps:
How To Recycle Coffee Pods
Step 1: Load the pod into the Recycle A Cup cutter
Step 2: Twist Recycle A Cup one full turn around the pod
Step 3: Separate the pod and recycle
- Re-purpose or Recycle the plastic.
- Recycle the aluminum top.
- Compost the filter paper and coffee grinds.
Even if you throw out the pod top with the filter still attached, the filter and coffee grinds can now decompose vs. being trapped in the plastic and you are still making a nice environmental contribution.
You may also want to consider re-purposing your used pods. There are many creative ways to craft with your used K-Cup pods after they have been separated with Recycle A Cup. Visit Pinterest for awesome ideas on how to reuse your coffee pods, especially for the upcoming holidays.
The Recycle A Cup® cutter works with the majority of coffee pod designs such as K-Cup® and similar brands. However, not all coffee pods are designed exactly the same. Recycle A Cup works best with Keurig licensed K-Cup pods. Results with other pods may vary.
As with any blade those in the Recycle A Cup will dull over time. The Recycle A cup is designed to last 6 weeks depending on use and is fully recyclable once finished using.
* National Coffee Data Trends 3/22/13; Green Lodging News 8/9/15
Recycle A Cup® and Medelco Inc. are not affiliated with Keurig®, Green Mountain Coffee® or Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.
