Moving Beans materialised after a coffee lover talked to a researcher to deliver the unique naturally degradable Nespresso-compatible coffee pods which keep the flavour of the coffee. The capsules are 100% eco-friendly and can be securely tossed out with food waste.

We have obviously more blogs on coffee, coffee pods and compostable coffee pods under Coffee Pods Review. Other educational material on plastic-free coffee pods are e.g. from leading media publishers, or Moving Beans or other sources. Also, check out our Compostable Coffee Pods and Sustainability Article.

We are frequently being asked what bioplastics are, or what is the significance of an item being biodegradable or compostable? Is there any relationship between bioplastics and biodegradability? How should we customers handle these products? In this blog, we try to break down these principles through easy explanations that will ideally assist you better understand their significance and be more aware of the choices you are taking as a customer. Let's go step by step:

BIOPLASTICS.

These are materials that are either derived from biomass (e.g. plants, such as corn or sugarcane) or are eco-friendly; or indeed feature both properties. They vary from conventional plastics because the latter are made from fossil oil (petrol).

The benefits of using sustainable products to produce bioplastics are: boost in resource performance (e.g. use of biomass for different functions), reduction of the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions (those that significantly contribute to environment modification); and conserving fossil resources by slowly replacing them.

BIODEGRADABLE.

Biodegradation is a procedure - a chemical process - during which microbes that are readily available in the environment convert materials into natural compounds such as water, carbon dioxide, and garden compost (artificial additives are not required).

The process of biodegradation depends upon the surrounding ecological conditions (e.g. area or temperature), on the materials involved and on the procedure itself. This procedure can take short amount of times (weeks and months) or extended periods of time (tens or perhaps hundreds of years). The property of biodegradation does not depend on the source material of the product but is rather linked to its chemical structure. It is therefore essential to understand that 'Bio-based' does not suggest 'biodegradable'. Simply put, plastic products made from biomass (a kind of bioplastic) are not necessarily naturally degradable. On the other hand, some petrol-based plastics might be naturally degradable. The family of bioplastics can be divided into 3 main groups:

• bio-based (or partially bio-based) but non-biodegradable plastics (e.g. PE, PP, PET, PTT or TPC-ET);.

• plastics that are both bio-based and eco-friendly (e.g. PLA, PHA or PBS);.

• petrol-based plastics that are biodegradable (e.g. PBAT).

COMPOSTABLE.

Composting is likewise a procedure-- a chemical process.

It is the process of biodegradation under aerobic conditions (existence of free oxygen) within a time frame of 6-12 weeks. There are 2 methods to perform this process: industrially or home-compost. Industrially compostable conditions are really particular and they have actually been specified under the European norm EN 13432 for packaging items and adopted by the British Standard Institution under BS EN 13432 standard. Just those packaging products that satisfy the stringent requirements of the EN 13432 standard are given with the certification of OK-Compost Industrial and can be unambiguously considered industrially compostable.

In practice, this means that you can dispose this material, including compostable coffee pods, in your natural waste bin for it to be sent out to the closest commercial composting center. Home-compostable packaging rather is not covered under one single widely-known standard but rather within a number of country-based ones. Because the conditions in a home-compost are not that controllable as in the case of a commercial garden compost, this is.

Under home-composting condition temperature levels and humidity can vary significantly from place to location, and year on year, not always attaining the right decomposition in an affordable timeframe.

Nowadays, nevertheless, society and specialists in the field see the need for moving into this instructions if we want to become more sustainable. That is why we may see very fascinating developments and developments in this home-composability space in the following decade.

One of the market challengers I truly love is Moving Beans who have been providing compostable coffee pods for many years, with more info under https://www.movingbeans.com/pages/about-us. They were one of the first to provide truly sustainable Nespresso coffee pods.