Do you love your Keurig, but hate what all those disposable coffee pods are doing to the environment? A solution may be just across the county, in Leamington.
Competitive Green Technologies in Leamington has partnered with the University of Guelph and a food packaging company in Toronto to make single-serve coffee pods that are both recyclable and compostable.
The pods will be made from bio-composites like coffee chaff, corn fibre, bio-carbon and miscanthus.
CEO Atul Bali says although a recyclable version is still in the development phase, "some of the formulations being developed are pretty close."
"The K-Cup has been criticized because of the amount of non-recyclable waste it generates and ends up in landfills," he says.
Competitive Green Technologies President, Mike Thiessen started growing miscanthus as a source of energy to heat his tomato greenhouses, but he can see other opportunities beyond your morning cup of java.
"Any single-use food package that is difficult to unbundle in order to be recycled is an immediate opportunity," says Thiessen. He adds farmers growing miscanthus as an energy source can expect to make about $50 per tonne, whereas the composite resin market can offer growers $150 to $200 per tonne.