Adapting to Eco-Friendly Packaging

Single serve coffee pods have been around for a while now. In fact, they’ve become part of the daily routine for millions of Americans. You wake up, you pop one in the your brewer. You need an afternoon pick me up, you pop one in your brewer. You are winding down from a long day, and you guessed it…  you pop one in your brewer, and the cycle continues. What most consumers don’t consider is the amount of waste produced annually in coffee pods alone. For the eco-conscious consumer, there has been a huge objection to this type of packaging.

Enter the fully compostable k-pod alternative. The “Compo Cup” as it is referred to,  is produced by U-Pac 2 Inc. of Greenfield, Minnesota, distributed by North Atlantic Specialty Bag.   If you are familiar with construction of the k-pod, you know there are essentially 3 components: the cup itself, the inner filter and the top seal. Although there are a handful of companies that produce recyclable polypropylene cups, the logistical challenge is separating the cup from the filter and seal prior to recycling. In contrast, all components of the Compo Cup are constructed of certified compostable plant based materials, all of which, will break down. What this means, is that you can literally remove the used pod from your brewer, and throw the entire assembly directly into the compost bin to be recycled in an industrial compost facility or certain home composting units. 

IMS has been at the forefront of this advance; piloting the design of automated processing equipment to run this style of cup. These machines use our Synchronous Motion Machine chassis as the foundation to de-nest unfiltered cups, weld the filter in place, nitrogen flush, fill, seal and eject the finished product.  These machines are great for contract packaging applications or larger scale coffee producers, and can be designed to run either Compo or polypropylene style k-pods.