It’s one of our favourite habits, but those who enjoy a daily cup of coffee may not be aware of its very significant downside. Each year billions of non-biodegradable coffee cups, lids and disposable pods pile up in landfill, creating a growing environmental issue. Australians use an estimated one billion disposable coffee cups annually, but these cups are not recyclable in most states. The petroleum oil-based plastic lining that makes them waterproof cannot be recycled with paper and cardboard collections. In fact Planet Ark recommends putting them in the rubbish, rather than the recycle bin for fear of contaminating the whole load. Similarly Australians spent more than $215m on coffee pods in 2015, but the convenient capsules are not biodegradable because of the combination of plastics and aluminium with organic matter inside.

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