Staff Notes

Executive Director Frank Franciosi traveled to Austin, Texas, for the Single-Serve Capsules Conference in early March to speak about obstacles and opportunities to increase composting infrastructure in the US.

Did you know:

• COFFEE IS THE #1 consumer daily beverage in both the US and Canada.
• The sales of pods in the US and RETAIL coffee market (excluding instant) is the largest selling segment (vs. cans, ground bags and whole bean bags) reaching $5.6B in 2019.
• The tonnage of coffee pods in 2019 was 89,616.7 tons; since 2014 this adds up to 450,000 tons.
• Composting is emerging as the “new recycling,” with the who recycling industry being exposed with research showing less than 10% of plastics get recycled … both consumers and manufacturers are looking at other alternatives – especially when it comes to FOOD WASTE diversion.
• Composting organics and food related packaging helps to manage greenhouse gases when processed properly, which is better than sending them to landfill.
• We need to think about the entire supply chain and lifecycle – what goes into the materials i.e. plant-based renewable vs fossil fuel plastics, carbon footprint, as well as consumer ease of use and composter processing capability downstream. So, collaboration across all stakeholders is critical.
• Education and managing contamination risks are key; therefore, proper claims, certifications and identifiable cues will be critical to success.

Thank you to Club Coffee for the above statistics! Watch for more data as we create web resources later this month.