Way back in 2019 we made the call to make our jars of instant coffee completely plastic free by changing plastic lids to 100% aluminium.

Why? Well, we all know plastic is terrible for the environment. But the material’s versatility, pliability, durability and cheap cost to produce made it hard to say goodbye to. Since David Attenborough and the Blue Planet II team really brought the issue home – we got a glimpse into the true cost of our reliance on plastic. And it’s not looking pretty. See our facts on plastic below. 

We realised that it’s all well and good doing our bit as individuals and, while drinking coffee at home is much better for the environment than using a single-use takeaway cup, we wanted to make sure we’re doing everything we can as a business to reduce our use of single-use. Catchy!

THE FACTS ABOUT PLASTIC

• 50 percent of plastic produced is for single-use purposes – used for minutes and then discarded Plastic Oceans
• Only about nine percent of all plastic ever made has likely been recycled The Economist
• 10 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in our oceans annually. That’s equal to more than a bin lorry load every minute Plastic Oceans
• More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are already floating in our oceans Nat Geo
• 90% of plastic polluting our oceans is carried by just 10 rivers World Economic Forum
• By 2050, virtually every seabird species on the planet will be eating plastic Nat Geo
• Less than a third of all plastic in the UK is recycled Surfers Against Sewage
• The average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic a year Environmental Science and Technology

OUR PLASTIC-FREE PACKAGING

Our instant coffee jar lids are now made from 100% aluminium. Aluminium is the most recycled – and most recyclable – material out there. It can be recycled directly back into itself over and over again in a true closed loop, while retaining its properties indefinitely.

You can recycle glass and aluminium in your household waste, so the jar’s future is in your hands.

ENERGY

There’s huge environment benefits to recycling aluminium. The recycling process uses 95% less energy than producing aluminium from raw materials. It also saves 97% of greenhouse gas emissions produced in the primary production process. It’s also such a speedy process – in as little as 6 weeks your recycled aluminium could be back in circulation, living its life as another jar lid or a drinks can.  

Read about our aluminium Nespresso-compatible coffee pods, here, and grab yourself a jar or two over here!