Coffee pods concern Waste Watch manager

Disposable, single-coffee pods are a step in the wrong direction, says Island Waste Management Corporation.

The tiny cups are used in machines, such as Keurig and Tassimo, and are thrown into the waste after one use.

Heather Myers, disposals manager for the P.E.I. Crown corporation, said it's hard to track just how much trash is being produced by these pods, but sorters have noticed more people are using pods over traditional coffee filters.

"The little tiny coffee cups are pretty small and don't weigh a lot," said Myers.

"Not a huge impact, but at the same time it still is an item that is going into the waste stream, where if they were using filter paper with your coffee grinds it would go into the composting stream. I would prefer that people not generate that waste."

Myers would like coffee drinkers to consider getting reusable pods.

For mobile device users: Have you thought about how much waste is produced by people using single-cup coffee pods?