Sendero Compostable Coffee

Description

Sendero coffee capsules are made with a commitment to sustainable sourcing and environmental ethics. Sendero Specialty Coffee explores remote coffee growing regions and work with local families and cooperatives, that grow 100% Arabica coffee beans without the use of any pesticides, and in harmony with the nature to preserve the biodiversity for their lands. When Sendero launched their capsule project, they were keen to echo these environmental ethics also for the consumption of coffee in homes and offices. Sendero’s choice led to zero-waste capsules that are 100% biodegradable and compostable – making our specialty coffee capsules completely aluminium-free and plastic-free. The terms ‘biodegradable’ and ‘compostable’ are frequently used interchangeably, and often thought of being the same, although they are different. Biodegradable means that a product can degrade into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass within a reasonable amount of time without residues. Whereas a compostable product requires the action of aerobic bacteria, fungi and other organisms as well as oxygen in order to help a compostable product decay or decompose. A typical domestic compost heap of plant material, such as leaves, grass clippings, and vegetable peels is the most common facility to encourage such decomposition. Industrial composting ensures a high compost quality in a controlled environment. Sendero capsules are suitable for home composting and industrial composting. The biopolymer used in the capsules is based on starch, glucose and lignin, which is basically wood bark, a waste product of the paper industry. Biopolymers are biodegradable, and some are also compostable, such as these capsules. Biopolymers can be sustainable, carbon neutral and are always renewable, because they are made from plant materials which can be grown indefinitely. These plant materials come from agricultural non-food crops. Therefore, the use of biopolymers creates a sustainable industry. In addition, biopolymers have the potential to cut carbon emissions and reduce CO2 quantities in the atmosphere: this is because the CO2 released when they degrade can be reabsorbed by crops grown to replace them: this makes them close to carbon neutral. Speaking of oxygen and coffee: these capsules are the first true oxygen-tight bio coffee capsules in the world achieving a level of oxygen impermeability, which enables the capsules to guarantee a long-shelf life for coffee without any additional outer packaging.