Eleven tons of coffee bag plastic diverted from landfill
Image: Pexels/Igor Haritanovich
The collaboration between GrainPro, the Neumann Gruppe USA companies (Atlas Coffee Importers, InterAmerican Coffee and Rothfos Corporation), Continental Terminals and dozens of contributing coffee roasters, has collected 40 bales of used GrainPro bags and diverted them from landfills and into a special recycling effort.
At approximately 550 pounds each, a total of 22,000 pounds of plastic recently made the journey to Revolution, a special plastics recycler in Arkansas.
The bags — which feature a propriety technology that both makes them both highly effective but also not recyclable through traditional means — will be broken down into pellets and transformed into new plastic products.
Revolution accepted and can use all the bales that GrainPro shipped to its facility. By contrast, data shows that currently, only about 5% of plastics put into recycling bins in the United States are actually turned into new things.
Additionally, to maximise the environmental outcome, GrainPro allowed competing hermetic bags to be included in the collection effort, while covering the costs of shipping all the bales.
Getting involved
If you aren’t yet involved but pick up coffee from Continental Terminals in New Jersey or Alameda, CA, you can simply fill out this form and bring your empty bags with you.
If you receive deliveries from CTI, you can have the bags collected from your site during delivery — just fill out the same form.
If you don’t work with those warehouses, you still have the option to mail in the bags with the same form.
The company is currently working to expand this programme into Europe this year, with help from InterAmerican Coffee Europe and other NKG companies. Additionally, it also hopes to establish “hubs” across the United States, to create more options for dropping off bags or bales. Organisations interested in becoming hubs are encouraged to get in touch.