Why Was Coffee In Capsules Banned In Hamburg?

Video: Why Was Coffee In Capsules Banned In Hamburg?

Video: Why Was Coffee In Capsules Banned In Hamburg?
Video: Why Nespresso Is Recycling Its Coffee Pods 2024, November
Why Was Coffee In Capsules Banned In Hamburg?
Why Was Coffee In Capsules Banned In Hamburg?
Anonim

Hamburg's city council has banned the sale of capsule coffee in Germany's second-largest city. The restriction applies to all municipal and public buildings. The measure was imposed for environmental reasons and is part of the new policy of the city administration to reduce hazardous waste.

The city's governors recently unveiled their strategy, entitled A Guide to Green Initiatives. This is a 150-page document indicating which environmentally harmful ingredients and products cannot be bought with municipal money. In addition to coffee capsules, the list also includes plastic bottles for mineral water, beer bottles that are cleaned with chlorine, air fresheners, plastic plates and cutlery.

The report states that these products are an unnecessary consumption of resources, and their waste can create problems for generations to come. They also often contain extremely harmful aluminum.

Capsules cannot be easily recycled as they are often made from a mixture of plastic and aluminum. Only six grams of coffee are contained in one capsule, which weighs three grams. We believe that this is an unnecessary consumption of public resources, Jan Dube, a spokesman for the local municipality, told the BBC.

Capsules Coffee
Capsules Coffee

According to the latest research by several environmental organizations, discarded coffee capsules can cover the equator more than 12 times in one year. Despite these shocking data, the results of surveys conducted in different parts of Europe show that people prefer coffee capsules.

Although more than 60 percent of surveyed owners of coffee machines with capsules are aware of the environmental consequences of using the capsules, nearly 40 percent do not intend to stop the way they prepare their tonic.

The study also showed that most coffee capsules are drunk in Europe and in particular in the UK, France and Germany. However, there is light in the tunnel after a leading global coffee company said last year that it had developed a new type of capsule that decomposes naturally.

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