Are you still drinking capsule coffee? The use of capsule coffee machine hides environmental pollution!

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Capsule coffee is popular all over the world in recent years, it is easy to operate, easy to carry, and there are dozens or even hundreds of flavors. Colorful coffee capsules are almost fashionable, but in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city, they are seen as unbearable behind the glamour.

The Hamburg government recently issued a "Green Purchasing Guide" to restrict administrative agencies from buying plastic tableware, plates and other items that are not conducive to ecological sustainable development, including "wasted resources" and "difficult to recycle" capsule coffee. Some Hamburg city councillors expressed support for this policy and hoped that the government's exemplary posture would encourage more people to use sustainable products and reduce the pressure on environmental protection.

The packaging of coffee capsules becomes unnecessary consumption and a waste of resources because it contains pollutants that cannot be recycled.

Hamburg city government report

Capsule coffee is usually packaged in three or four layers to ensure that it is insulated from the air. Jan Dub, a spokesman for the Hamburg Environmental Protection and Energy Bureau, said that for every 6 grams of capsule coffee, the packaging weight accounted for 3 grams.

The packaging material of capsule coffee includes a large number of plastic and aluminum compounds that are difficult to recycle, plus the tin foil film at the top of the capsule, coffee residue and filter screen in the capsule, which makes it more difficult to recycle. No wonder even John Sylvan, the inventor of capsule coffee, said: "sometimes I regret inventing it."

The popularity of capsule coffee is also amazing. The National Coffee Association (National Coffee Association) estimates that more than 1/4 households in the United States own capsule coffee machines. According to alternative media website Vice, one out of every eight cups of coffee sold in Germany is capsule coffee. Statistics show that 27 billion capsules of coffee were sold worldwide in 2012, producing more than 90, 000 tons of garbage.

Global capsule coffee brands mainly include Nespresso and NESCAF É Dolce Gusto of Nestl é, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), a joint venture between Mondelazz International of the United States and D.E. Master Blenders of the Netherlands, Keurig Green Mountain of the United States, and Starbucks.

Although both Nestl é and Green Mountain Coffee offer capsule recycling services, the proportion of recycled quantities has not been disclosed. Both companies have promised to fully launch recyclable capsules by 2020, but Green Mountain Coffee says it is not easy for the material to be recyclable, resistant to high temperature and pressure, keep coffee fresh and make it easy for pinholes to pass through.

9%

Dutch analysis data show that in the coffee market in Western Europe, coffee capsules are worth 18 billion euros, accounting for 1/3; the coffee market as a whole is growing at an average annual rate of 1.6%, while capsule sales have grown by about 9% a year since 2011.

Sound

These packaging usually lead to unnecessary consumption of resources, produce waste, and may even lead to aluminum pollution. The outer packaging of disposable coffee capsules is usually a mixture of plastic and aluminum, which is not easy to recycle. We don't think taxpayers' money should be used in this way.

Jan Dub, spokesman for Hamburg Environmental Protection and Energy Bureau

The point is not the recovery rate, but that we don't need to make too many things we don't need.

Piotr Barczak, waste Policy Manager, European Environmental Union (EEB)

Coffee capsule

Coffee capsule is called capsule in English. Because the wall of the capsule is hard, and the prototype can be well maintained at high temperature, high-pressure steam can be injected into the capsule, and the coffee can completely precipitate the espresso with coffee fat under pressure, which can better ensure the aroma of the coffee. When making the capsule, the coffee beans are specially treated into coffee powder and sealed in an aluminum platinum space similar to "fruit pudding". At the same time, the capsule is filled with non-toxic inert gas, thus prolonging the shelf life and sterilizing again. When brewing coffee, put the capsule into a special coffee machine and press the button without other operation. The concept of coffee capsule was born in 1976. Under the leadership of Eric Favre, Nestl é launched the world's first coffee capsule product, Nespresso. (data from Baidu encyclopedia)