NatureWorks and IMA Announce New Partnership for Compostable Coffee Pods
NatureWorks, a manufacturer of low-carbon Ingeo PLA biopolymers, and coffee handler, processor and packager, IMA Coffee, announced that they have entered into a joint strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the market for high-performing K-Cup compatible compostable single-serve coffee pods in North America. Compostable capsules create the opportunity to not only address consumer concerns and divert the packaging away from landfills, but, perhaps more importantly, to recover the used coffee grounds, enabling their processing at a compost facility where they deliver nutrients to the final compost.
Coffee capsules are complex structures where the capsule body, lidding and filter must be precisely designed to deliver a consistently high-quality brewing experience. Before the capsules even reach consumers, it’s critical that these components perform well during assembly and filling as well as on the shelf and during brewing. By bringing together NatureWorks’ materials and applications knowledge with IMA’s machinery expertise, the partnership aims to deliver a turnkey compostable coffee pod solution to the entire coffee industry making it simple to have a great cup of coffee and dispose of the used pod in the most sustainable way possible.