Espresso Mundo

21/10/2026

 Over the years purchasing coffee beans or ground in packs at different supermarkets or stores around the world one thing that I have continually noticed is the type of packaging used to keep the coffee as fresh as possible, packaging comes in all shapes, materials and set functions, materials such as aluminium foil, plastic and in cases paper with the two.

 Starting Borough Roast my micro roast business I found it not difficult but frustrating that coffee packaging has not progressed as well as the coffee beans ethical approach themselves, Fair trade, Rainforest alliance, Cup of excellence, and many other.

Researching the raw packaging materials and how to best approach the ethical way to recycle these materials after they have been used, I was confronted with a wall of challenges.

All are not easily recyclable, either the mixed materials in the pack structure make it impossible to separate, valves used to help with the degassing of the coffee are not recyclable and have to go to the landfill, or (LDPE) low density polyethylene which is considered recyclable at home, however my local council doesn't accept the material as it doesn't have the facility to recycle it.

So where to now?

Lets go back a bit, no lets go back a long bit back to the 1990's back then I was a Barista at a popular café in Sydney and back then coffee packaging was kind of evolving with the time.

I remember clearly the coffee we used arriving in brown paper bags with a sticky tape as a seal no fancy materials in those days it was all about the coffee.

This particular coffee went on to become one of the most recognized coffee brands, loved by many.

Yes with time marketing took lead and the product evolved and so did the packaging, to my surprise on one delivery the product box had changed and the coffee beans were inside a poly plastic type bag, but still no valve.

So I was thinking how did the coffee degas?  what was used?

It was simple, but before I go on lets discuss the material used for the bag, it got worse.

The previous paper bag was simply more ethical and could be recycled the new fancy one not, it was as I recall a tough bag, hard plastic not very friendly.

So here I am 11pm and going around in circles on the web looking for the perfect bag to sell my coffee at Borough Roast.

 Every website I enter I' am face a great amount of products to sell your coffee in "Great" however most just don't seem to fit my purpose, either not 100% recyclable or not accepted at the local refuse centre.

So I was thinking what do I do? How can I ensure that my customers purchasing Borough Roast have no hassle with the disposal of the coffee pack.

Then I think I have found the solution!

A Compostable bag with out a Valve - (valves are made out of a certain plastic not accepted at the refuse centre so must go to land fill, not great) - Then how to degas the coffee as its packed shortly after roasting.

Well the solution the old pin prick on the bag! You see back in the 90's when coffee was delivered in the paper bags there was a tiny pin prick at the bottom of the bag, this tiny hole would allow the coffee bean gas to escape preventing the bag to explode.

With time and enough marketing the valve was introduced and a whole new industry was launched, you might disagree with my view and that is perfectly fine, however experience is what it is and results are what they are.

Going back to the supermarket coffee and the vast selection you will find in the shelves, the valves attached to the coffee bags at times these valves fail too, more that often I have held coffee bags with either beans or ground that are puffed up like a blow fish out of the water, that is the cause of the valve being faulty.

What is the difference benefit of the valve compared to the pin prick?

 I would say unless you are storing your coffee for months without it being used maybe you have an advantage however once once the bag is open valve or no valve you have at least 7-10 days to appreciate the coffee as its best, from then onwards it will start to turn stale and loose all its aroma and with that its characteristics.

The pin prick will let out the gases but the question is how much air will enter that bag from that tiny hole? remembering that gas is coming out. Not much I would say and maybe none at all.

I recall the coffee in the paper bags at the café tasting the same as the one in the fancy bags, yes the bags looked better but the product was the same. 

Remembering that manufacturers give the roasted coffee 12 month shelf life inside one of these bags, in my personal opining in a sealed bag coffee will reach its peak optimum  after 10 days and will continue to 8-10 weeks maximum after this period even though its inside a sealed bag it will start to deteriorate quite quickly.

 In conclusion, I have decided to use a fully compostable, biodegradable coffee bag (EN13432) for Borough Roast no plastic valve, no inner lining or mix of materials to go to a landfill we have enough there already.

I will be placing a simple tinny prick with a pin on the bottom of the bag to let the gas escape and this will be the approach up until I find a bag that is 100% recyclable at your home collection point.