Coffee Recycling & Environment
You ever ask yourself: Can coffee cups be recycled? We do as much as we can to help the environment.
Indonesso decided to use aluminum capsules for the Nespresso line and PP plastic for the Dolce Gusto line to keep the aroma and the freshness of our coffee. Aluminum and PP plastic are the best materials to guarantee that and they are 100% recyclable. For us, biodegradable and compostable capsules are not a good option for the Indonesian market, because there aren’t composting facilities available in Indonesia that can recycle these bioplastics. Without a proper recycling circle of these materials, the damage to the environment is even harder. First, because the time to degrade in a landfill takes almost the same time as petroleum-based plastics, and secondly because if these materials are mixed with normal plastic, it is not possible to recycle the normal plastic anymore.
This is the reason why biodegradable plastics are already banned in some European areas. In Bali, we are mostly in direct contact with our customers and offer a free recycling program in cooperation with Eco Bali, a well-known foreign-owned recycling company based in Kerobokan. Every capsule will be separated between the coffee grind that will be used for composting, and the aluminum/PP capsules, that will be recycled back to the aluminum/PP industries. We offer the same recycling program to our high-consuming clients, such as hotels and resorts.
Please ask for more details.
For our customers who not able to join our recycling program, we made a step-by-step guide on how to recycle fast and easily at home. Indonesso follows the capsules market all the time and as soon as there is a better solution available, such as home compostable materials, we will consider using these as a second option.
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What’s the secret about Indonesian coffee?
It is the location.
Indonesia is nestled between the Pacific and Indian oceans and composed of more than 16.000 volcanic islands. Located in the bean belt, these islands are ideal for growing coffee.
A short story about coffee and Indonesia… Indonesia was the first place, outside of Arabia and Ethiopia, where coffee was widely cultivated. Dutch settlers brought the first seedlings to the island of Java in the 17th century. After a few years, the first exports were sent back to Europe. In the 18th century, coffee shipped from Batavia (today Jakarta) sold for 3 Guilders per kilogram in Amsterdam. Since annual incomes in Holland in the 18th century were between 200 and 400 Guilders, this was equivalent to several hundred dollars per kilogram today. By the end of the 18th century, the price had dropped to 0.6 Guilders per kilogram and coffee drinking spread from the elite to the general population. By the mid-1870s the Dutch East Indies expanded arabica coffee-growing areas in Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi, and Timor. Dutch-owned plantations on Java were nationalized in the 1950s, soon after independence, and revitalized with new varieties of Coffea arabica.
These varieties were also adopted by smallholders through the government and various development programs. Today Indonesia is among the world’s top coffee producing and exporting countries.
Danny Schleicher
Thanks for the heads up on the recycling of plastics, aluminium and biodegradable plastics. Also, thanks for introducing me to Eco Bali. All the best from Jakarta!