Mars Drinks Finds Ways to Reduce Coffee Waste
Mars Drinks, along with the other four Mars, Inc. business segments, have formed a partnership with TerraCycle that is expected to decrease the amount of packaging waste the company sends to landfills.
The coffee provider will work with "Flavia Fresh Pack Brigades" to collect the used fresh packs from offices across the country. Once collected, the coffee grinds will be composted and sold as compost material, the fresh pack's plastic nozzle will be recycled, and the film that makes up the exterior of the fresh pack will be upcycled into a wide range of products such as pencil cases and notebooks. The used fresh packs can be recycled into energy through a waste-to-energy process.
Mars Drinks has been dedicated to finding ways to help its customers and the farmers who grow the products in its beverages become more "green" through a "Thirsty for Change" platform. This platform includes such programs as Rainforest Alliance Certified Beverages and Brighter Tomorrow at Origin. This past fall, the company received certification for a proportion of its three most popular coffees, confirming that these coffees come from farms where forests are protected; rivers, soils and wildlife are conserved; and workers are treated with respect, paid decent wages, properly equipped, and given access to education and medical care. The second program works with farmers to help improve product quality and command a higher price for their yield.
The company was the first to introduce the Brew-by-Pack brewing system to the home and office.