Hall 5 | Booth C21+D21
The recently-founded Swiss Coffee Company is offering coffee in compostable plastic capsules with aroma-type barrier packaging. Newly-developed coffee machines have also been announced and the two products will initially be sold in Switzerland. The capsules are made from Ecovio, BASF’s compostable plastic. The company says this is the first production application in a system solution for packaging and the first application to use the IS1335 injection moulding grade. The material is used in combination with an Ecovio-based multilayer system with specific barrier properties.
Coffee capsules made from compostable plastic (photos: BASF)
At the company’s pre-K press conference in June, Dr Lars Börger, Head of Global New Business Development, Biodegradable Plastics said that BASF and the Swiss Coffee Company have developed a system that consists of a compostable coffee capsule and an aroma-tight outer packaging. It meets demanding requirements for product protection and undergoing brewing in high-pressure coffee machines, yet may still be composted. The system solution is based on renewable resources.
BASF launched Ecovio plastic, which is biodegradable and compostable as defined by EN 13432, six years ago. It has been used in a variety of film applications, including bags for collecting biodegradable waste, and mulch film, which helps to cultivate fruit and vegetables in fields.
Expanded product line
The new ecovio IS1335 product grade is designed to be particularly suitable for injection moulding. With ecovio-based solutions for multilayer film with barrier properties, BASF has expanded the product line further. These product variants helped the Swiss Coffee Company to develop a high-volume product that can, at the same time, contribute to sustainability while addressing the latest trend in coffee drinking.
Product development
The company’s founders originated the idea in 2011 and were able to bring the project to fruition in a short development period of just 13 months. The goal of the company is to market high-quality coffee packaged in biodegradable plastic capsules that, together, satisfy demanding social and environmental criteria in production.
Sustainability
Most coffee capsules currently on the market are made from aluminium. In the case of food packaging with a high percentage of organic content, compostable plastics such as Ecovio from BASF offer a solution to enable sustainability to be applied not only to coffee production but also to the packaging and disposal. Effective disposal was a key aspect of packaging choice and design from outset.
Optimised for composting
Not only is the Ecovio IS1335 plastic certified for biodegradable, compostable packaging to Standard EN 13432, but also the coffee capsules themselves. Moreover, the barrier packaging is also made of biodegradable components. The structure consists of three functional layers: the outer, paper-based carrier layer sits on a thin barrier film; the inner, sealing layer is based on Ecovio. All three layers are certified to EN 13432. The layers are bonded together by BASF’s Epotal Eco compostable laminating adhesive. The packaging is designed to satisfy the demanding barrier requirements for moisture, oxygen and aroma when used with coffee.
Not only is the Ecovio IS1335 plastic certified for biodegradable, compostable packaging to Standard EN 13432, but also the coffee capsules themselves.
Börger said that BASF’s in-house testing confirmed that the used coffee capsules degrade in an actual composting environment. During the pilot phase, the Swiss Coffee Company itself will handle composting under industrial conditions in Switzerland. Leomat, one of the largest providers of office furnishings in Eastern Switzerland, will supply the complete system and also collect the waste. The biodegradable coffee capsules and their outer barrier packaging will both ultimately be composted.
Compost as a resource
Packaging such as coffee capsules contains small portions of completely organic waste. If this cannot be collected separately from the packaging material, composting is the ideal means of disposal, rather than incineration or recycling. Coffee is a composters’ favourite, as it is a good material for loosening the material’s structure.
Börger said that the concept contributes to increasing the amount of compost and thus to the waste disposal objectives of the EU. Various studies have estimated that Europe currently carries out separate disposal of only 30% of all organic waste, with a high proportion still going to landfill. “Disposal in landfills generates methane, which has an approximately twentyfold higher greenhouse potential than CO2. If organic waste was collected separately and composted throughout all of Europe, greenhouse gas emissions from waste disposal could be lowered by 30%,” he said. Compost, as a natural fertiliser, contains valuable nutrients such as phosphorus, which cannot be produced synthetically. Moist kitchen waste has a low calorific value, which makes composting a much more effective disposal solution than incineration.
First award and launch in other countries
The compostable coffee capsule product concept won the Idée Suisse “Golden Idea Award 2013” prize for innovation. It was presented with the award in Zurich in May 2013.
The company intends to introduce its product and concept in Austria and the USA. The concept will also be launched in Germany, although disposal of food packaging made from certified compostable plastic in organic waste containers is not yet permitted in the country. Each market launch will focus on a sound disposal concept for creating value from the promise of biodegradability. BASF will provide assistance with these launches.
www.ecovio.com
www.basf.de
