Coffee capsules made of “standard” plastic and aluminum may soon disappear from store shelves, with the only possible exception being compostable coffee capsules made from bioplastics. The latest draft of the European Commission’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Management Regulation (PPWR) makes this clear in Article 8(1).
Aluminum coffee capsules (Credit: PantherMedia/gioiak2)
The draft stipulates that only biodegradable coffee capsules can be marketed. “This means that common capsules made of aluminum or plastic will no longer be allowed to be placed on the market,” said the German Aluminum Industry Association (Aluminium).
Gregor, Head of Packaging, Recycling and Sustainability at Deutschland
Spengler said in response to inquiries from Plasteurope.com. Therefore, the German Aluminum Industry and the German Nonferrous Metals Association (WV
Metalle co-authored a position paper on the latest draft of the PPWR. In this draft, the evaluation of coffee capsules is no longer regulated by Article 8. “As far as we know, this amendment proposal has been well received by the European Parliament and the European Council,” Spengler added.
European Bioplastics welcomed the latest draft. “The industry needs legal certainty to drive further investment, secure and expand production in the EU,” the company said in a statement. According to EN
Compostable capsules certified to the 13432 standard should decompose at least 90% within a certain period of time.
Nestle, one of the largest distributors of aluminum capsules, said it was also closely following the PPWR discussions. “It is key for us that the packaging we use does not enter the environment or become residual waste, but is fully collected and recycled,” a company spokesperson told PIE.
Complementing the aluminum capsules, Nestlé, through its subsidiary Nespresso, plans to launch “home compostable” paper capsules in France and Belgium this year. Similarly, nescafest
Dolce Gusto plans to launch Neo coffee capsules on the Brazilian market, which are also based on paper with a compostable biopolymer coating.
There are no definitive results yet –
The EU Council and the European Parliament are discussing the draft PPWR published last November. Proposals for amendments will be made in the coming months. Tripartite talks between the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council will take place after the discussions in the European Parliament and the Council are complete. Only after this process is completed will the regulation come into force and apply directly to all EU member states. It’s unclear when that will happen, with experts expecting a final decision in about 18 months.
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