Hamburg Imposes Coffee-Pod Ban in City Government Facilities

Citing environmental concerns, the German city of Hamburg has reportedly
banned the use of coffee pods in government buildings. Hamburg’s
Guide to Green Procurement reportedly states that coffee pods cause
“unnecessary resource consumption and waste generation, and often
contain polluting aluminum.”

“It’s 6 grams of coffee in 3 grams of packaging,” a Hamburg Department
of the Environment and Energy official said. “We in Hamburg thought
that these shouldn’t be bought with taxpayers’ money.” See VICE.com,
February 24, 2016; The Telegraph, February 25, 2016.

Issue 595