In California, a Bay Area coffee company owned by two members of the punk band Green Day has introduced the first coffee bag made of compostable, plant-based materials, including corn and sugar starches and cellophane made from cellulose. The organic coffee became available in late October at four Bay area Costcos as well as Amazon.com.
Bandmates Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt say that finding a supplier that could provide a material that was both compostable and functional was a challenge. Ultimately, this was solved through a partnership with San Francisco Bay Coffee, which had invested five years and more than $2 million toward developing fully compostable materials for coffee packaging.
Oakland Coffee will also introduce single-serve pods using compostable materials this month, with San Francisco Bay Coffee following suit in early 2017.