7 ms·

I can't stand these coffee capsules. The amount of waste they generate is absurd for a process which should really only produce negligible compostable waste (c

by adriand 14y ago

I can't stand these coffee capsules. The amount of waste they generate is absurd for a process which should really only produce negligible compostable waste (coffee grounds and perhaps coffee filters). Plus, I doubt the plastic capsules are recyclable, since they permanently contain the grounds once used (at least, the Tassimo brand that I've seen in action does this). This is an "innovation" that saves little time (making a cup of coffee is not a time-consuming process), is substantially more expensive than the process it replaces, and generates an inordinate amount of waste.

krelian 14y ago
I actually have one of their machines and I got an email inviting me to hand over my used capsules for recycling.
runn1ng 14y ago
The companies themselves are usually the ones that provide the recycling. For me, the problem is price (and dependence on a single vendor - which is connected :))
- DanBC 14y ago
  So this patent battle might be handy - without vendor lock-in to a single type of "pod" (even with many flavours of pod) you might be persuaded to buy a machine?
  - runn1ng 14y ago
    Yes, because without the vendor lock-in the price wouldn't be as unreasonably high as it is now.
Shivetya 14y ago
These do not look all that different than the Keurig system. Though on Wikipedia only the Nestle version has expressions of environmental concern covering the page. While I agree there is substantial waste this is a product of convenience. I have owned a K-Cup machine for years having given up traditionally brewed coffee during that time. While the twenty to thirty five cent cost per cup is much higher it comes down to the psychological side, I perceive more waste in a whole pot of coffee than brewing a single cup. I have used the reusable insert for making coffee with store or coffeehouse purchased grounds but that kind of ignores the reason for buying this in the first place.
shiven 14y ago
This is an "innovation" that saves little time (making a cup of coffee is not a time-consuming process), is substantially more expensive than the process it replaces, and generates an inordinate amount of waste. I am sorry, but based on my personal experience, you completely lose on the time argument. It is way easier to to get espresso style coffee this way than any other way I am aware of. Just turn the Nespresso machine on, pop in the capsule, place your coffee mug at the dispenser, press the dispense button and walk away. Within seconds you have a very decent cup of espresso, with absolutely no messy after-cleaning of grinder/machine/utensils. In this once instance, I love the technology, it is way cheaper than barista coffee, way quicker and way less messy than making it on my own. And oh, you can pry my Nespresso away from my cold dead hands, not before. ;-) Edit: The only item on my wish list with Nespresso is to use my choice of coffees, which may now become possible with Nestle losing this lawsuit. I'd love to be able to brew the "Honey badger" or "Sugar glider" from Intelligentsia coffee on my Nespresso! Yum!!!
- buro9 14y ago
  My Delonghi Perfecta bean-to-cup machine will disagree with the argument that Nespresso is faster. I can skip the "pop in the capsule" step for a weekly "pour some beans in the top". Bean-to-cup machines are fairly common, but for those who wish to take their time then there are more time-consuming ways (syphon coffee anyone?).
  - shiven 14y ago
    Except that the Delonghi Perfecta is three times the price of a Nespresso :-P
    - buro9 14y ago
      Yeah, I calculated that when I purchased it. The coffee is a third cheaper and that's for Square Mile or Monmouth beans (about as expensive as you can get ignoring stuff involving Civets). It's the difference between purchasing a more expensive laser printer and having reduced printing costs, or purchasing an ink jet and having higher printing costs. We make 2-4 double-espressos per day. It's worth paying for the better machine to make the savings each day. Given that I've had the machine for more than 4 years it's already saved me a substantial amount of money. Each double-espresso (14g of coffee) costs me around 35p, whereas a Nespresso (6g of coffee) costs around 52p, and the local coffee shop charges around £1.20 (14g of coffee). So not only is it cheaper, but there's a full double-shot in mine and less than a single shot in yours. Of course, if I had a single espresso to make it comparable then the price of Nespresso looks even worse.
JackWebbHeller 14y ago
Nespresso capsules can be fully recycled. Every time I order replacement capsules, I also order a recycling bag. At the time of delivery, the driver collects my pre-filled recycling bag from the last batch I ordered and takes it away for recycling - completely hassle-free. All the rest of the packaging Nespresso pods are delivered in is made of paper or cardboard.
- andyjohnson0 14y ago
  Is there a way to have them recycled if you don't have them delivered to your door by a person in a vehicle? In your case, does the driver just deliver nespresso capsules, or are they delivering supermarket grocery orders?
  - JackWebbHeller 14y ago
    The driver just delivers Nespresso capsules - you can only order them from Nespresso directly online (at least in the UK). Otherwise, you can pick them up from a handful of dedicated Nespresso retail outlets around the UK - where I am presuming you could drop off recycling.
    - snogglethorpe 14y ago
      I think his point was that a guy driving to your house for this single purpose is itself hugely wasteful... [I suppose if they do it once a year, and deliver an enormous sack full of these pods, it might be in the noise, dunno. Still, a "retail" solution seems much better.]
      - andyjohnson0 14y ago
        Yes, that was what I was trying to get to.
gallamine 14y ago
My company provides a Keurig machine and a whole slew of different beverage choices. While it doesn't reduce waste, and maybe doesn't reduce time, it certainly provides a nice selection of beverages. I value that.
dmotto 14y ago
In Europe you can recycle used nespresso capsules. Looks like it is available in the states as well. http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration/recycling.html http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration/recycling.html Just relaying some personal experience here... in Austria we have had the off brand capsules for a while. I have tried various brands which all tasted like crap. On top of this, these "crapsules" completely ruined my machine. A colleague had the same experience.
Luc 14y ago
Ethical Coffee's capsules are biodegradable. They already sell about 1/6th to 1/5th as many capsules as Nespresso. http://www.ethicalcoffeecompany.com/en/capsule-biodegradable-capsule http://www.ethicalcoffeecompany.com/en/capsule-biodegradable...
- dmotto 14y ago
  I was really looking forward to these but they taste like bad filter coffee.
peterwwillis 14y ago
Sounds like a good Hackathon project. Do you have a Maker space nearby? Edit: There are refillable cups if you want to avoid the expense and waste: http://www.coffeeduck.com/en/ http://www.coffeeduck.com/en/ http://www.podcafe.com.au/ http://www.podcafe.com.au/
JonnieCache 14y ago
They are another sign of consumerism gone insane. It's largely a marketing thing - blank "pods" are easier to sell. You have (until now) complete control over the supply of the pods. It's a marketers wet dream. My thoughts have as ever been accurately summed up by the inestimably amusing Mr Brooker: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/26/drink.comment http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/26/drink.co...
rprospero 14y ago
It depends on what the capsule is replacing. They're absolutely worse than brewing coffee grounds, but they're better than visiting the coffee shop and throwing out a big, styrofoam cup.

by adriand 14y ago

krelian 14y ago

I actually have one of their machines and I got an email inviting me to hand over my used capsules for recycling.

runn1ng 14y ago

The companies themselves are usually the ones that provide the recycling. For me, the problem is price (and dependence on a single vendor - which is connected :))

DanBC 14y ago
So this patent battle might be handy - without vendor lock-in to a single type of "pod" (even with many flavours of pod) you might be persuaded to buy a machine?
- runn1ng 14y ago
  Yes, because without the vendor lock-in the price wouldn't be as unreasonably high as it is now.

Shivetya 14y ago

These do not look all that different than the Keurig system. Though on Wikipedia only the Nestle version has expressions of environmental concern covering the page. While I agree there is substantial waste this is a product of convenience. I have owned a K-Cup machine for years having given up traditionally brewed coffee during that time. While the twenty to thirty five cent cost per cup is much higher it comes down to the psychological side, I perceive more waste in a whole pot of coffee than brewing a single cup. I have used the reusable insert for making coffee with store or coffeehouse purchased grounds but that kind of ignores the reason for buying this in the first place.

shiven 14y ago

This is an "innovation" that saves little time (making a cup of coffee is not a time-consuming process), is substantially more expensive than the process it replaces, and generates an inordinate amount of waste. I am sorry, but based on my personal experience, you completely lose on the time argument. It is way easier to to get espresso style coffee this way than any other way I am aware of. Just turn the Nespresso machine on, pop in the capsule, place your coffee mug at the dispenser, press the dispense button and walk away. Within seconds you have a very decent cup of espresso, with absolutely no messy after-cleaning of grinder/machine/utensils. In this once instance, I love the technology, it is way cheaper than barista coffee, way quicker and way less messy than making it on my own. And oh, you can pry my Nespresso away from my cold dead hands, not before. ;-) Edit: The only item on my wish list with Nespresso is to use my choice of coffees, which may now become possible with Nestle losing this lawsuit. I'd love to be able to brew the "Honey badger" or "Sugar glider" from Intelligentsia coffee on my Nespresso! Yum!!!

buro9 14y ago
My Delonghi Perfecta bean-to-cup machine will disagree with the argument that Nespresso is faster. I can skip the "pop in the capsule" step for a weekly "pour some beans in the top". Bean-to-cup machines are fairly common, but for those who wish to take their time then there are more time-consuming ways (syphon coffee anyone?).
- shiven 14y ago
  Except that the Delonghi Perfecta is three times the price of a Nespresso :-P
  - buro9 14y ago
    Yeah, I calculated that when I purchased it. The coffee is a third cheaper and that's for Square Mile or Monmouth beans (about as expensive as you can get ignoring stuff involving Civets). It's the difference between purchasing a more expensive laser printer and having reduced printing costs, or purchasing an ink jet and having higher printing costs. We make 2-4 double-espressos per day. It's worth paying for the better machine to make the savings each day. Given that I've had the machine for more than 4 years it's already saved me a substantial amount of money. Each double-espresso (14g of coffee) costs me around 35p, whereas a Nespresso (6g of coffee) costs around 52p, and the local coffee shop charges around £1.20 (14g of coffee). So not only is it cheaper, but there's a full double-shot in mine and less than a single shot in yours. Of course, if I had a single espresso to make it comparable then the price of Nespresso looks even worse.

JackWebbHeller 14y ago

Nespresso capsules can be fully recycled. Every time I order replacement capsules, I also order a recycling bag. At the time of delivery, the driver collects my pre-filled recycling bag from the last batch I ordered and takes it away for recycling - completely hassle-free. All the rest of the packaging Nespresso pods are delivered in is made of paper or cardboard.

andyjohnson0 14y ago
Is there a way to have them recycled if you don't have them delivered to your door by a person in a vehicle? In your case, does the driver just deliver nespresso capsules, or are they delivering supermarket grocery orders?
- JackWebbHeller 14y ago
  The driver just delivers Nespresso capsules - you can only order them from Nespresso directly online (at least in the UK). Otherwise, you can pick them up from a handful of dedicated Nespresso retail outlets around the UK - where I am presuming you could drop off recycling.
  - snogglethorpe 14y ago
    I think his point was that a guy driving to your house for this single purpose is itself hugely wasteful... [I suppose if they do it once a year, and deliver an enormous sack full of these pods, it might be in the noise, dunno. Still, a "retail" solution seems much better.]
    - andyjohnson0 14y ago
      Yes, that was what I was trying to get to.

gallamine 14y ago

My company provides a Keurig machine and a whole slew of different beverage choices. While it doesn't reduce waste, and maybe doesn't reduce time, it certainly provides a nice selection of beverages. I value that.

dmotto 14y ago

In Europe you can recycle used nespresso capsules. Looks like it is available in the states as well. http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration/recycling.html http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration/recycling.html Just relaying some personal experience here... in Austria we have had the off brand capsules for a while. I have tried various brands which all tasted like crap. On top of this, these "crapsules" completely ruined my machine. A colleague had the same experience.

Luc 14y ago

Ethical Coffee's capsules are biodegradable. They already sell about 1/6th to 1/5th as many capsules as Nespresso. http://www.ethicalcoffeecompany.com/en/capsule-biodegradable-capsule http://www.ethicalcoffeecompany.com/en/capsule-biodegradable...

dmotto 14y ago
I was really looking forward to these but they taste like bad filter coffee.

peterwwillis 14y ago

Sounds like a good Hackathon project. Do you have a Maker space nearby? Edit: There are refillable cups if you want to avoid the expense and waste: http://www.coffeeduck.com/en/ http://www.coffeeduck.com/en/ http://www.podcafe.com.au/ http://www.podcafe.com.au/

JonnieCache 14y ago

They are another sign of consumerism gone insane. It's largely a marketing thing - blank "pods" are easier to sell. You have (until now) complete control over the supply of the pods. It's a marketers wet dream. My thoughts have as ever been accurately summed up by the inestimably amusing Mr Brooker: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/26/drink.comment http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/26/drink.co...

rprospero 14y ago

It depends on what the capsule is replacing. They're absolutely worse than brewing coffee grounds, but they're better than visiting the coffee shop and throwing out a big, styrofoam cup.