Compostable coffee cups can't really be composted. Not in Hawke's Bay anyway

Hastings District Council senior waste minimisation officer Sam Gibbons holding the Again Again cup on the left which can replace single use compostable coffee cups. Photo / Warren Buckland

Compostable coffee cups and packaging may seem like eco-friendly solutions, but they're causing issues for Hawke's Bay's commercial composters.

Waste experts say it's likely most of them aren't actually being composted. Shannon Johnstone reports.

According to The Packaging Forum 295 million single-use cups are thrown out in New Zealand each year.

That equates to about 8 million in Hawke's Bay alone.

Many cafes opt for compostable coffee cups, but it's likely most of these end up in landfill.

Hastings District Council's senior waste minimisation officer, Sam Gibbons, says one Hastings cafe working with the council on a scheme to tackle coffee cup waste is selling on average 1800 coffees in compostable takeaway cups each week.

That's 93,600 cups a year.

"If one shop is handing out almost 100,000 takeaway cups a year, then you can see how quickly all the shops in the area could add up," Gibbons says.

New Zealand statistics on the issue are limited, but United Kingdom research estimated about one in 400 cups make it back to the correct facilities.

"Realistically I reckon that's even less over here because we don't have as many of the composting facilities or even the infrastructure that they have in the UK in terms of collection.

At commercial composter BioRich some PLA compostable packaging can be composted into their non-certified compost, but they are wanting to move away from it. Photo / Paul Taylor

"I really think the vast majority [of compostable coffee cups] are ending up in landfill."

WasteMinz senior projects manager and organic materials sector group head Sarah Pritchett agrees.

"I'd say a really minimal amount actually get composted.

"I think people get compostable cups with the best intentions ... compostable packaging seems like a good solution but it's actually just another waste product in the end."

Gibbons said talking to coffee shops, some of them try to collect back compostable cups, but most people who use a takeaway single-use cup are going to put it in the nearest bin when finished.

Consumers may think that because the cups are compostable, they will break down in a landfill, but that does not happen because a landfill tightly compacts material so oxygen cannot enter to help break down cups, she said.

Compostable cups aren't suitable for recycling, and when it comes to single-use non-compostable coffee cups, Gibbons isn't aware of a facility in New Zealand that can recycle them.

"It's just another layer of confusion."

Waste experts believe the majority of compostable coffee cups are going to landfill. Photo / NZME

The problem

Most compostable coffee cups are only commercially compostable because they contain a plant-based plastic polylactic acid (PLA) lining which stops them from breaking down fast enough to be home compostable certified, Pritchett said.

Even if they do have an industrial compostable certification, they can't always be accepted by commercial composters.

This PLA causes an issue for Hawke's Bay's only commercial composter BioRich, because their Biogro certified organic compost cannot contain any plastics, owner Mike Glazebrook said.

There can also be issues with plastic and other litter items coming in with compostable packaging because some consumers are unsure about what to put in which bin, so to be done right there needs to be sorting systems in place before it reaches the composter because sorting is uneconomical for them.

BioRich operations manager Nigel Halpin said a certain amount of compostable packaging with PLA is composted into their non-certified compost.

This comes from two dedicated, trusted contractors who collect the compostable waste from specific events, the farmers' market and some cafes.

Glazebrook said products with PLA take longer to compost than other items such as food or green waste.

A compostable coffee cup takes about three months to fully break down in their facility, Halpin said.

Currently individuals can't drop off their own compostable packaging waste.

BioRich would like to be able to stop receiving PLA compostable packaging going forward, and these should be replaced by other compostable products without PLA in the future, which would be Biogro certified.

The compostable packing provides no benefit to the composters and their product.

"It doesn't really add anything to the quality of the compost and comes with these other risks," Glazebrook said.

Both Glazebrook and Halpin said their bigger focus is on diverting food waste from the landfill to put back into soil where it "can do a lot of good".

"Our focus is on getting that good food waste out of landfill ... rather than a disposable issue like a cup or a plate that can be looked at by all of us having our own favourite coffee mug and going away from that throwaway society we live in."

Pritchett felt that part of the problem was that compostable packaging has "been introduced without a proper conversation about whether it's needed or whether it's going to help composters".

The solution

Don't use single-use coffee cups.

Pritchett believes reusable cups are the solution to the coffee cup problem and they "don't have to be fancy" - a mug or jar from home or the office works.

Hastings District Council is offering Hastings' cafes a subsidy to trial Again Again – a cup lending system where cafes loan a metal coffee cup with a lid for $3 which can be returned to any partner cafe for a full refund.

People can borrow more than one cup and bring multiple cups back when they remember.

Gibbons said it will mean there is always a reusable solution for people if they forget to bring their own mug or cup.

Bay Espresso has launched the scheme and another nine cafes in Hastings have come on board to launch the scheme in Plastic Free July, she said.

"It's going to be a bit of a cultural shift for everybody and that's what we are really trying to promote, this normalising of reuse."

Cafes can also implement mug libraries and people can sit down at the cafe to drink their coffee.