Ontario MPP wants to ban non-compostable coffee pods

Nov 2 2017, 9:51 pm

An Ontario MPP is looking to ban non-compostable coffee pods in the province.

On Wednesday, Norm Miller, MPP for Parry Sound – Muskoka, proposed the bill at the Ontario Legislature, which would require all single-use coffee pods sold to be certified as compostable.

Miller hopes that this would help eliminate the 1.5 billion single-use coffee pods that go into Canadian landfills each year.

The Ontario MPP has worked with the University of Guelph (U of G), leading up to the introduction of his private bill. Miller showed compostable pods created with U of G technology, which are made almost entirely from plant materials and reclaimed coffee bean skins.

According to the University, the pods are compatible with most Keurig brewing systems. Developed by U of G’s Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre (BDDC), the school worked with Toronto-based coffee roaster Club Coffee to create the pods. And in 2015, the Biodegradable Products Institute, the largest independent certification organization for compostable products in North America, certified the pods 100-percent-compostable, said the University.

The compostable pods have been available in Canada since 2016, and Miller is pushing to support this locally based solution.

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