Love a freshly brewed , single - size of it cupful of o’joe ? You ’re not alone . According toThe Atlantic , nearly one in three American menage own a specialized , pod - establish chocolate machine like a Keurig brewer . However , billions of these tiny chocolate capsules cease up in landfills each twelvemonth . In 2013 , Keurig Green Mountainproduced8.3 billion K - Cups .
Germans , too , love their burnt umber pods , and apply about 3 billion pods a twelvemonth . However , that number will shortly plummet . To cut down on waste , NPR reportsthat Hamburg , Germany , has become the first city to censor coffee pods from government - running buildings , office , and establishments , including schools and universities .
Though convenient , many coffee cod are n’t easily recyclable , since they ’re often made from a admixture of plastic and aluminum , NPR points out . Even when the fuel pod are made from recyclable materials , they ’re often discarded as trash . Plus , they ’re expensive , and in Hamburg they ’re bear for with taxpayer ’ money when used in public buildings .
" We think it ’s time to appraise this very critically , " Jens Kerstan , senator for the Hamburg Ministry for Environment and Energy , tell CBC Radio . " If you look at the coherent costs about efficiency , zip efficiency , about waste and , in the conclusion , of money — it makes no sense buy those machine . "
Nespresso , which produces most of Europe ’s coffee pod , argues that single - size of it coffee cod are n’t that bad . Theycut down on urine and chocolate thriftlessness , which impact the surroundings far more than promotional material , they argue . Also , their pod are mostly made from recyclable atomic number 13 . Nevertheless , functionary in Hamburg have already made their decision .
Hamburg has also passed a slew of other guidelines design to battle environmental waste . Along with deep brown pods , the regime can no longer use taxpayer money to buy nonrefillable charge card bottle , credit card cutting tool , plates and cup , chlorine - based cleaning products , melodic phrase freshener , and terrace heaters .
[ h / tNPR ]
