What materials are common coffee bags made of?
The Multi-Material Coffee Bags Solution: Traditionally, coffee bags have been made from multiple layers of different materials, such as:
MOPP (Monoaxially Oriented Polypropylene)/PET (Polyethylene terephthalate): For stiffness and printability.
Aluminum Foil: For an excellent barrier against oxygen and moisture, crucial for preserving coffee freshness.
PE (Polyethylene): For heat-sealability and an internal food-safe layer.
While effective at preserving coffee, these multi-material structures are nearly impossible to recycle economically. The different layers cannot be easily separated and processed, so they end up in landfills or incinerators.
What materials are 100% recycled coffee bags made of?
The Mono-Material Coffee Bags Solution: Mono-material bags aim to replace these complex laminates with a structure made predominantly (usually over 95%) of a single type of plastic, typically polyethylene (PE) with aluminium-free, no foil, no metalized, no PET.
Why choose 100% recyclable coffee bags?
1. Waste Reduction
The 100% recyclable bags will not end up in landfills or be incinerated, preventing them from contributing to the environmental problems caused by global plastic waste.
2. Simplified Sorting
When a mono-material bag enters a recycling facility, it's much easier for automated sorting systems (like Near-Infrared or NIR technology) to identify it as a single plastic type. This prevents contamination of recycling streams.
3. Efficient Reprocessing
Once sorted, the mono-material plastic can be more effectively cleaned, shredded, melted, and re-pelletized into new raw material. This re-pelletized material can then be used to produce new plastic products, completing the circular loop. Also, there are very good existing recycling loops for polyethylene in many European countries. The EU is implementing new regulations like the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which mandates recyclability by 2030 and encourages the use of single-material designs like mono-material pouches, promoting a circular economy for packaging.
4. Enhance Brand Image and Consumer Trust
Using eco-friendly packaging demonstrates a company's commitment to social responsibility and helps cultivate a green and sustainable brand image. Consumers are more likely to support brands that prioritize environmental sustainability, especially younger generations and those with a strong environmental awareness.
In addition to using mono material, how can we achieve truly effective recycling?
1. Printed with 100% recycled ink
TUV Austria awarded the ‘OK Compost Home’ and ‘OK Compost Industrial’ marks to HP, verifying HP Indigo ElectroInks can be used as printing inks for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation in accordance with leading standards, such as EU regulation EN 13432. Therefore, digital printed inks are not only 100% recyclable but also compost.
2. Assurance of coffee packaging sealing and printing clarity
Puncture Resistance: To protect the coffee during shipping and handling.
Seal Integrity: To prevent leaks and maintain freshness.
Printability: To allow for attractive branding and product information.
Degassing Valve Integration: Coffee degasses CO2 after roasting. Valves need to be integrated in a way that doesn't compromise the mono-material claim or recyclability. Often, it is made of food-grade plastic, such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or PE materials that comply with EU ROHS/FDA standards. It has good temperature resistance and chemical stability, can adapt to the normal environment of coffee packaging, and ensures safety when in contact with food.
3. Consumers' environmental awareness
People need to know how to properly dispose of these 100% recyclable bags, ensuring they end up in the correct recycling stream
(e.g., in the USA, collect them separately and take them to designated retail drop-off points, consumers can conveniently recycle Store Drop-off Recyclable packaging at designated locations in participating retailers.
In the EU, look for recycling locators on websites like Recycle Now to find the nearest collection points for plastic bags and wrapping)
Can mono-material aluminum-free coffee bags really keep coffee beans fresh?
The biggest challenge of aluminum-free coffee bags is maintaining the freshness of the coffee beans while providing the same oxygen and moisture barrier properties as aluminum foil. Therefore, we offer the following innovative materials:
MDO PE (Machine Direction-Oriented Polyethylene): a advanced PE film, High density Polyethylene. With its good flatness and printing performance, excellent thermal stability and low shrinkage, MDOPE film can now be used as a printing film for flat bottom bags, spout bags, etc. To obtain MDO-PE, it is stretched in the machine’s running direction. The orientation has changed the physical properties of the PE film in such a way that it is comparable to common printing substrates, such as PET, in terms of printability and mechanical performance.
EVOH PE (Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol Polyethylene): Applying ultra-thin, recyclable barrier coatings that don't compromise the mono-material nature significantly. Perfect water barrier, oxygen barrier and gas barrier. It can effectively extend the shelf life of food, medicine and other products, and is especially suitable for items that are sensitive to oxygen and moisture.
WHITE PE (white High-Density Polyethylene): Perfect heat sealing effect can be achieved at a relatively low temperature (such as 120-180℃), which is convenient for operation of automated packaging production lines, ensuring the sealing of the packaging and preventing leakage of contents. Good chemical stability and it has low water absorption and can effectively block moisture, protecting the products in the package from moisture.
Our recycled solution is not just to make the materials "recyclable" but to make them "truly recycled" from bean to bin , contributing to a more circular economy for flexible packaging.
Where to buy recycled whole bean coffee bag?
If you have any questions or want to get a quote, we will be happy to put you in touch with our sales department. A simple mail to