Huhtamaki, a global sustainable packaging solutions provider, has partnered exclusively with Nespresso, one of the world’s largest coffee brands, to innovate a sustainable home-compostable paper-based coffee capsule.
The collaboration, initiated in 2021, used a lean approach to product and process development, accelerating the time to market.
Photo courtesy of Nespresso
As a result, the home compostable paper-based coffee capsule launched in France on Nov. 21, 2022, leading partners to claim the development is both significant for the circular economy and a leap forward for consumers. The new range will pilot initially in France and Switzerland on the Nespresso Original system. It will be further launched in several other European countries within a year. Credit goes to Huhtamaki’s proprietary high-precision technology that allows wood fibers to be molded into intricate shapes with high-precision tolerances to a fraction of a millimeter.
“We are delighted to have partnered with Nespresso on a unique home compostable paper-based capsule designed for circularity. This breakthrough innovation is the result of combining fiber, a natural renewable material, with our proprietary high-precision technology, creating a sustainable alternative for Nespresso lovers. The capsules, produced in line with our blueloop brand promise, incorporate our commitment to design for circularity, to be operationally carbon neutral, and to responsibly source our materials in line with our 2030 strategy,” said Charles Héaulmé, president and CEO at Huhtamaki.
Pushing Boundaries
Guillaume Le Cunff, Nespresso CEO, added: “Pushing the boundaries of fine coffee experiences is part of the Nespresso innovation, and since becoming a B Corp in 2022, we’re more committed than ever to widening the sustainable choices we offer our consumers. We are excited to announce our first ever paper-based home compostable capsule, which will complement our offering of aluminum capsules that are both recyclable and made using 80 percent recycled aluminum. This is about yet another sustainable choice, without compromising on quality.
“Several aspects of the capsule feature proprietary technology, including the biopolymer lining inside the capsule which protects the coffee against oxidization,” Le Cunff noted. “The product is certified for composting, both home and industrial, by TÜV Austria, an international certification body. In some countries, including France where Nespresso is piloting this range, these capsules are accepted in the public biowaste bin.”
Elaborating on that point, the CPC said, “Nespresso is committed to raise awareness among consumers on how to compost their capsules, as well as advocating for the acceptability of these coffee capsules in the public biowaste/organic bin. In France, Nespresso initiated Union des Acteurs du Compostable (UAC), an interest group bringing together public bodies, companies, recycling operators, and NGOs to support the implementation of solutions to help producers of biowaste increasing the sorting of biowaste, as well as to raising awareness amongst consumers about composting.”
The new coffee capsules protect quality and freshness while offering the required functionality for which the brand is known—with no compromise on the taste experience, according to Le Cunff. “Nespresso is responding to continually increasing consumer demand for compostable packaging, evident in the simple fact that an estimated 45 percent of French people now home compost one or more types of biowaste.”
Paradigm Shift
Huhtamaki is committed to delivering sustainable packaging solutions with a positive impact on the environment, according to Héaulmé. The firm is proactively working with innovative consumer brands to redesign the future of packaging. “This partnership’s success demonstrates how innovation and collaboration can deliver for the circular economy, and tackle climate action by becoming carbon neutral, while not forgetting other environmental and social aspects of sustainability.”
Héaulmé reported, “We see this technology as a paradigm shift in how we can use renewable wood fiber in complex food packaging. This innovation opens new avenues when it comes to the use of fiber in food packaging. Huhtamaki’s high-precision technology means we can capture the very clear sustainability benefits of renewable wood fiber in an expanding array of packaging solutions that offers superior functionality, keep food safe and maintain its quality.”
Corporate vision identifies the development of this technology as a game changer milestone in sustainable packaging—not only because of the sustainability and food conservation features, but due to the new use case possibilities. “We believe we will be able to replace for example caps and closures, which are today made of plastic or metals. Other potential applications are trays or containers that require lids that seal directly to the tray and are able to open/re-close.”
In acting to redesign the future, Huhtamaki maintained, “Going beyond merely renewable, fiber is a natural material that is endlessly versatile, shapable and adaptable. With high-precision technology, fiber can be molded for the various uses our customers might need. We are perfecting the collaboration between nature’s technologies, our customers’ needs and consumers’ desires. What is simply fiber today can be anything tomorrow. With fiber we can embrace a future that is not fixed.”
About Huhtamaki
Ambitions Align
The world’s population is projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and surpass 9.7 billion by 2050, necessitating a significant increase in food production. Global supply chains will need to adapt to this growth, and flexible packaging will play a critical role in helping to deliver safe and affordable products to consumers, improving accessibility no matter where they are.
Flexible packaging protects products that are vital to society. It offers functionality benefits as it is lightweight yet durable, protecting and preserving food efficiently during transportation and storage, extending its shelf life, minimizing food waste, and boosting affordability and accessibility.
Social responsibility demands that major printers/converters of flexible packaging like Huhtamaki—which operates five FTA member plants in the US, stretching from Maryland to Ohio, Kentucky and Texas—must spearhead initiatives with all members of the packaging supply chain in taking action to address end-of-life.
To increase the recycling rates of flexible packaging, Huhtamaki executives argue the package printing and converting industry must recognize that flexible packaging structures in the market often compromise between functionality and recyclability. “Many packaging structures, such as multilayer laminates with aluminum foil and plastic, pose a challenge for today’s predominant recycling technology, mechanical recycling, leading to lower-quality recycled material.”
Marco Hilty, president, flexible packaging at Huhtamaki, says, “We believe in our ability to drive real change, not over the next decade, but in the next few years, in line with our customers’ circularity commitments. Looking ahead, by 2030, we want to see the flexible packaging value chain fully transformed, achieving true circularity, carbon efficiency and bringing a net positive impact to the global food chain. To get there, we must run faster than we have done before. We must build solutions to redesign the future.”
Huhtamaki fully supports the commitment of many customers to achieve 100 percent recyclable packaging by 2025, Hilty explains. “The ongoing discussion about the right design criteria for sustainability and recyclability in flexible packaging is of paramount importance, and we want to see the ambition level increase across the industry. This is the only way to ensure that we align with efforts to expand the current recycling infrastructure and boost consumers’ trust in the system.”