0thousand tonnes
Capsule waste a year.
The global coffee capsule industry generates over 576,000 metric tons of waste annually, almost all of it multilayered plastic and aluminium that persists in landfill.
Herekar and Verma, 2026A capsule is used for thirty seconds and then lasts for centuries. This page sets out the waste the format creates, what we replaced it with, and what we are not yet in a position to claim.
Single serve coffee solved convenience by making packaging that cannot be taken apart again. These are the consequences, measured.
The global coffee capsule industry generates over 576,000 metric tons of waste annually, almost all of it multilayered plastic and aluminium that persists in landfill.
Herekar and Verma, 2026Nine in ten US households have no food waste collection at all, which is what a pod sold as compostable quietly depends on to break down.
BioCycle nationwide survey, 2023One material, pullulan, doing the job the cup, the barrier film and the aluminium lid used to do between them. Nothing to separate, so nothing to landfill.
Provisional patent filedFour stages, none of which need an industrial waste facility at the end.
Starch and agro-plant waste are fermented by the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans, which secretes pullulan. The feedstock is agricultural residue, not petroleum.
The pullulan film is cast and formed into the standard capsule shape, and into the instant sphere. It seals against oxygen and moisture, so freshness does not depend on a laminate.
Hot water dissolves the shell as the coffee brews. Because there is no plastic present, there is no polypropylene to shed into the drink.
Anything left, grounds included, breaks down in soil or a home compost heap within days. No collection scheme, no industrial composter, no bin.
The difference is not how a pod is made. It is what is left when you are finished with it.
| Naturista | Plastic and aluminium pod | Pod sold as compostable | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of materials to separate | One, and it dissolves | Three, bonded | Two or more |
| Needs an industrial facility | No | No, it cannot be processed at all | Yes |
| Time to break down | Days | Centuries | Weeks, in that facility |
| Microplastics in the cup | None, no plastic present | Measured in hot coffee | Depends on the plastic used |
| What you throw away | Nothing | The whole pod | The whole pod, usually to landfill |
We have not published a full life cycle assessment. Fermentation uses energy and feedstock, coffee is still farmed and shipped, and none of that disappears because the shell does. What we have tested and published is the material comparison: nine biopolymer candidates against biodegradability, solubility, tensile strength, thermal stability, food contact safety and scalability, with pullulan the only candidate that passed all six.
When there is a life cycle assessment, it will go on this page whatever it says.