Recycle Your K-Cups

Linda G — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:33:43 +0000

For Christmas 2011, I was fortunate to receive a Keurig Coffee single cup coffee maker. This was a dream come true for someone like me who appreciates a fresh cup of coffee. The downside to owning a Keurig, however, is that the individual coffee packaging (the K-Cup) was not recyclable and I truly felt bad about throwing the used packaging in the trash. I did invest in a reusable filter assembly that can be easily cleaned and is compatible with my Keurig and was able to cut down on waste that way.

During August 2012, a few members of the Off-The-Grid team went on a field trip to Waste Management’s Edu-cycle Facility in Grayslake. I had been there several times before and am always pleasantly surprised that I learn something new during each visit. This time I learned that it is in fact possible to recycle K-Cups. The presenter told us that recycling decisions are made based upon having a market for the used items and due to their popularity, used K-Cups now had a market. She suggested cutting off the foil top and filter, then recycling the K-Cups with any other recyclables. Try it. It is easy!

Waukegan Public Library - coffee

Recycle Your K-Cups