Welcome back to the 2nd part of this week’s theme on Pollution By Coffee! In the last post, we explored the pollutive effects of coffee bean production through how the increasing demand of coffee has led to unsustainable crop cultivation practices. For this post, we will be examining the retail side of the coffee industry through examining the environmental challenges of two popular coffee retailers, Starbucks and Nespresso.
Starbucks
The most significant environmental challenge for Starbucks is the foundation of their coffee drinking experience – their strong and sturdy disposable cups. In 2017, Starbucks distributed 3.85 billion paper cups for their hot beverages alone (Wiener-Bronner, 2019). While the paper cup may seem like an ideal material to recycle, most recycling facilities do not do so because of the long and inconvenient process that it takes to separate the plastic lining that makes the cup waterproof from the paper cups that may also jam the machines (Wood, 2019). Furthermore, in a bid to eliminate plastic straws in their operations, the newly designed Starbucks plastic lid that includes a protrusion to drink is thicker (Mahdawi, 2018), raising concerns of the environmental repercussions of plastic pollution.
Nespresso
On the other hand, Nespresso is a coffee retailer that markets coffee capsules using aluminium capsule pods. The extraction and processing of the aluminium is an environmental problem as the aluminium industry is highly intensive and releases a significant amount of energy as waste heat (Brough and Jouhara, 2020). The refining of the aluminium also produces hazardous waste from the bauxite ore. Open-pit bauxite mining which is mostly pursued in developing countries has resulted in ecological destruction (Hamann et al., 2014). Therefore, the production of its main product has significant pollutive repercussions to the environment.
The two examples of Starbucks and Nespresso illustrate the environmental pollution effects of coffee. Definitely, the designs of these products stem from the consumer’s demands for convenience and comfortability. As such, it is not entirely fair to solely blame the coffee industry for the environmental pollution produced. As consumers, we need to understand that our perceptions and behaviour shape the way industries operate to fulfil our demands.
References
Brough, D. & Jouhara, H. (2020) ‘The aluminium industry: A review on state-of-the-art technologies, environmental impacts and possibilities for waste heat recovery’, International Journal of Thermofluids, 1–2, 100007.
Hamann, L., Luschnat, K., Niemuth, S., Smolarz, P. & Golombek, S. (2014) ‘CSR in the Coffee Industry: Sustainability Issues at Nestlé-Nespresso and Starbucks’, Journal of European Management & Public Affairs Studies.
Mahdawi, A. (2018) ‘Starbucks is banning straws – but is it really a big win for the environment?’, The Guardian, 23 July.
Wiener-Bronner, D. (2019) ‘Forget plastic straws. Starbucks has a cup problem’, , CNN. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/02/business/starbucks-cup-problem/index.html (accessed March 2022).
Wood, C. (2019) ‘Commentary: The single-use coffee cup is generating a mountain of waste’, CNA. Available at: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/paper-coffee-cups-heap-mountain-waste-carbon-footprint-1338356 (accessed March 2022).