Compostable Coffee Capsule Compound (FDA, 95C)

About This Product

This is a compostable injection moulding compound for single-serve coffee capsules, supplied as a pellet compound, rated to 95C and supplied FDA compliant for food contact. It is a compounded blend rather than a single resin. The 95C rating is the defining property, because it is set for the extraction duty rather than for general hot-fill service, and the compound is compostable at end of life.

A coffee capsule is a harder thermal problem than it appears. Water arrives close to boiling and under pressure, and the capsule has to hold its shape and its seal throughout the extraction. Most compostable polymers deform well below that, which is what rules them out of the format. The duty is not simply a high temperature but a high temperature with a mechanical load applied at the same moment: the pressure that drives water through the coffee bed is also trying to balloon a wall that the same water is softening, and the seal is being asked to hold while the material around it is at its weakest. Puncture behaviour is the second requirement and it pulls against the first, because the capsule must puncture cleanly at the right point rather than crack, and a crack that runs away from the intended opening puts grounds into the cup and into the machine. This compound is rated to 95C specifically for the duty. Coffee freshness is normally handled by the lidding or a barrier layer rather than by the capsule body, and is specified separately, so oxygen and aroma retention should be resolved there rather than expected of the body resin. Supplied as a raw material for processing on your own line. We do not produce finished articles.

It is used in single-serve coffee capsules, hot beverage systems, coffee roasting and packing and compostable packaging programmes.

Bio Green Foods supplies the compostable coffee capsule compound to specification on the 95C heat rating, capsule geometry and wall section, puncture behaviour and food-contact documentation.