Sustainability Insights for Coffee and Packaging Nina Goodrich Executive Director of GreenBlue and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition Tina Bosch Ladd Senior Manager, Sustainability Keurig Green Mountain
How many of you had coffee this morning? 2
How many of you had it with cream? 3
How many of you added sweetener? 4
Did you use a reusable cup? 5
Thinking about that cup of coffee Where do the biggest environmental impacts come from? a) Growing the coffee? b) Transporting the coffee? c) Roasting and packaging it? d) Making the coffee? e) Coffee and packaging waste? 6
Your Questions What do you think are the most important challenges and opportunities related to sustainability for Coffee, Tea, and Water? a) Ease of participating, making it simple, easy b) Packaging waste, too much plastic c) Composting or recycling d) Energy use and water e) Plant based plastics 7
GreenBlue is an environmental nonprofit dedicated to the sustainable use of materials in society. Composting Collaborative
SPC Guidance on Packaging Sustainability SOURCING Certified, recycle and bio-based MATERIAL HEALTH OPTIMIZATION Can be measured multiple ways (weight, damage reduction, shelf-life, carbon, water etc.) RECOVERY
Linear Economy Take Make Waste
The Circular Economy is a framework to help rethink this relationship of waste, resources, and material use. Ensuring that packaging is recoverable and recovered is key to a Circular Economy.
COFFEE & TECHNOLOGY 1981 2006 1990
Sustainability throughout our Business By 2020 100% of our K-Cup pods will be recyclable 13
Journey of a coffee bean Environmental impacts Carbon footprint Water footprint Waste 14
Carbon Footprint Keurig More Broadly Keurig analysis., 2017. Heller, Martin. 2017. Food Product Environmental Footprint Literature Summary: Coffee. State of Oregon, Department of Environmental Quality, with support from The Oregon Sustainability Board. A report by: Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. Accessed at: http://www.oregon.gov/deq/filterdocs/pef-coffee-fullreport.pdf on 10/30/17. 15
Thinking about that cup of coffee Do you know where the biggest environmental impacts come from? a) Growing the coffee b) Transporting the coffee? c) Roasting and packaging it? d) Making the coffee e) Coffee and packaging waste? 16
Water Footprint Keurig More Broadly Source: http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactivetools/product-gallery/ Developers Arjen Hoekstra (University of Twente) & Michiel van Heek (Water Footprint Network) Copyright (2017) Arjen Hoekstra & Water Footprint Network 17
Thinking about that cup of coffee Do you know where the biggest environmental impacts come from? a) Growing the coffee and milk and sugar b) Transporting the coffee? c) Roasting and packaging it? d) Making the coffee e) Coffee and packaging waste? 18
Water Use in Office Buildings by End Use Domestic/ Restroom 32% Kitchen/ Dishwashing 11% Landscaping 32% Cooling & Heating 25% Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Saving Water in Office Buildings, EPA-832-F-12-032, November 2012 19
Keurig Offers a Smart Choice for Making Beverages Save Water and Coffee Brewing only what you need with Keurig brewers saves coffee, money and water. Potential Annual Water Saving Using Keurig vs. Traditional 5,616 Gallons*** ~15% of each pot of brewed coffee is wasted. * That adds up to 936 CUPS of coffee annually and about 58 gallons** of water wasted. * Keurig Research Study on Coffee Waste February 2016 ** Based on three 64oz pots brewed per day with 15% waste 260 days a year *** 936 Eight Ounce Cups Multiplied By 6 Gallons of Water Per Cup for Growing/Processing and Brewing water = 5,616 Gallons 20
Let s not forget about paper Who owns our forests? a) Federal Government b) State Government c) Large Forest Products Companies d) Individual Landowners
Forest Ownership in the United States 22
How much of the waste we generate is packaging? a) 5% b) 10% c) 20% d) 30%
30% of our waste is packaging EPA, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management Report, 2016
Typical Waste Stream in office buildings Plastics 7% Glass 2% Metals 1% Cardboard 18% Mixed Paper 37% Trash 35% Source: Recycling @ Work, Research to inform improved Recycling in the Workplace, April 2015 (http://kabdata.org/media/kab_recycling@work_research_april2015_web.pdf) 26
What is the recovery rate in the United States? a) 90% b) 60% c) 35% d) 10%
35% of our packaging waste is 60% of packaging is landfilled. recovered. EPA, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management Report, 2016
In all, we landfill $11 billion of recyclable material each year. As You Sow, 2014
.Where we do..better...where we do..worse..
What about Food Waste: Prevention, Recovery, Recycling 63 million tons 85% Occurs downstream at consumer facing businesses and homes ReFed 2016
What about Composting? Today: Collection is a challenge Many composters are unwilling to take packaging Tomorrow: Infrastructure is growing
Thinking about that cup of coffee Do you know where the biggest environmental impacts come from? a) Growing the coffee b) Transporting the coffee? c) Roasting and packaging it? d) Making the coffee e) Coffee and packaging waste? 33
A Comprehensive Approach to Recyclability Improving Recycling Systems Designing for Recyclability A COMPLEX SYSTEM Driving Continued Innovation
Why is Keurig focused on Recycling? 94% Of U.S., population has some type of recycling program available in their community* >70% recycling access for #5 polypropylene plastic* <1% of communities in U.S. have access to municipal composting where compostable plastics are accepted** *Moore/RRS/SPC/ACC 2016 Access Study **Composting Data: RRS proprietary database, state permitting records, and BioCycle s findacomposter.com
5 Elements of the Recycling System End Markets Reprocessing Sortation Collection Consumer Engagement
Consumer Engagement How2Recycle Empowers people to recycle more, and better 37
It s a smarter label system. RECYCLABILITY ICON Indicates the recyclability of the packaging component SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS Tells consumer how to prepare component for recycling PACKAGING MATERIAL Identifies the material type of packaging component PACKAGING COMPONENT The specific part of the package referenced by the label HOW2RECYCLE WEBSITE Provides information on the label & additional recycling information Example for cereal box
67% Of consumers assume packaging isn t recyclable if they don t see a recycling claim on the package. 57% Of consumers look to packaging first for recycling information before going elsewhere. Carton Council, 2016
84% Of consumers learn from How2Recycle How2Recycle Consumer Survey, 2012-2017
How2Recycle distinguishes between lookalike packages
How2Recycle helps reduce contamination.
Ensuring K-Cup Pods Are recyclable and recycled Our test protocol provides insight into how items are sorted at recycling facilities. Companies and recyclers can use those insights to ensure that products and packaging are not only recyclable, but also recycled. What we ve learned to-date on K-Cup pod recovery: Pods are not too small to be recovered same recovery potential as single-serve yogurt containers. Filter paper attached to the pod is not a problem for recovery or recycling. Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) prefer to have grounds emptied from the pod prior to collection http://www.keurigrecycling.com/collaborate/#case-study
Testing Key Findings <0.01% impact on paper quality, with minimal loss to glass, and An average of 90% of empty K-Cup pods make it to the container line A recovery potential that exceeds 80% of incoming material. 45
Sub-title if needed, otherwise use layout without sub-title Title Keep it short for more impact Bullet level 1 - Bullet level 2 o Bullet level 3 Bullet level 4 CONFIDENTIAL: FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 46
Your Questions Did we answer them? What do you think are the most important challenges and opportunities related to sustainability for Coffee, Tea, and Water? a) Ease of participating, making it simple, easy b) Packaging waste, too much plastic c) Composting or recycling d) Energy use and water e) Plant based plastics 47
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