Paper-based capsule? A coffee ball with a seaweed-based crust? Or is it fully automatic? Environmental protection plays a central role in modern coffee consumption. Which type of coffee the consumer chooses to prepare is crucial to commercial success.
Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff (51) explained in an interview with Blick that fully automatic machines leave a 30 percent worse CO₂ footprint than Nespresso systems. He bases this on a study conducted in Switzerland commissioned by Nespresso and implemented by the consulting firm Quantis.
Le Cunff’s statement is, among other things, an illusion against Swiss coffee machine manufacturer Jura, whose slogan is “Freshly ground” and does not use capsule systems. CEO Emanuel Probst (65) recalls that Jura has been using fully automatic machines for 20 years, “because they offer freedom of choice and produce very little waste when it comes to coffee”. He doesn’t want to go into details about the study results and just hopes it’s a clean comparison. “We have a clear line and we stand for longevity and careful service,” explains Probst. He argues that portioning systems produce more packaging waste than fully automatic machines.
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According to Chahan Yeretzian, 61, a coffee researcher at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the discussion is in the wrong place: “The largest CO₂ footprint is caused by the rate of green coffee, namely cultivation, irrigation, or transportation.” A small proportion is due to packaging. Yeretzian emphasizes that the carbon footprint of 1.5 grams of instant coffee is the same as aluminum packaging. In other words: If 1.5 grams more coffee is required for a cup from a fully automatic machine than with the capsule system, the ecological advantage over the capsule disappears.
According to Yeretzian, eco-efficiency develops best when the coffee consumption per cup decreases, that is, when the extraction yield increases. Coffee quality must be maintained. It has been proven and measurable that aluminum is the best packaging for preserving coffee quality. “But if there are now capsule solutions made of paper or wood, coffee consumption will certainly help protect the environment.”
Fully automatic machine manufacturers are also working on better solutions. Among others, at ZHAW, where research in this direction is being carried out as part of an Innosuisse project and together with Thermoplan, the Lucerne coffee machine manufacturer.
Capsule or fully automatic – this is often a “confidence issue,” according to the coffee researcher. Consuming less coffee with the same coffee consumption will be beneficial for the environment.