Today, coffee brands face a challenging task in packaging: maintaining freshness, managing costs, ensuring performance, and promoting sustainability, all while navigating rapidly changing global packaging laws and producer responsibility initiatives.

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At Grounded, we're often asked, "what are the most sustainable specialty coffee solutions?" The truth is that it depends. There is no single “most sustainable” coffee bag, but there is always a solution that offers improved sustainability over virgin plastic.

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Every packaging choice involves trade-offs between carbon footprint, circularity, barrier performance, and the chances of it being recovered at the end of its life.

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How We Evaluate Sustainable Coffee Packaging at Grounded

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To help brands navigate the complexities of material selection, we have developed a guide on the Five Sustainability Metrics for Packaging: What Businesses Need to Consider, which outlines the key points required to make a truly informed decision.

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When assessing material choices, we focus primarily on two sustainability measures:

Carbon Footprint

We analyse the full lifecycle emissions of each packaging format from raw material extraction through manufacturing and transport by looking at:

• Material sourcing & extraction
• Land-use change
• Energy intensity of manufacturing
• Transport distances and freight method

These factors vary significantly between petroleum-based plastics, bio-based films, aluminium, paper laminates, and next-generation materials.

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While Grounded offsets all production and logistics emissions for our customers, carbon remains a key strategic metric for long-term packaging decarbonisation. Read more about how we offset with blue carbon here.

Circularity

Circularity measures both the inputs and the end-of-life outcomes of your packaging. The circularity score of your packaging considers:

• The percentage of recycled or renewable content that goes into the manufacturing of a material
• Compatibility with current recycling or composting systems
• Likelihood of actual recovery (the biggest real-world challenge)

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A note on attitudes towards circularity‍

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Most sustainability conversations focus almost exclusively on what happens to packaging after use. However, McKinsey’s Sustainability in Packaging 2025 research shows that 'sustainability' isn’t one-size-fits-all. Although recyclability is globally recognised as the most vital trait, other metrics like compostability see a divide in regional importance: it ranks 3rd ourof 7 key characteristics in the United States but only 5th in the United Kingdom. This highlight the need for brands to look beyond universal claims and understand the specific circularity facets valued in their target markets.

Additional considerations to take into account

Barrier and Protection of Your Coffee 

Coffee, whether whole beans or ground, requires packaging with strong oxygen and moisture barriers, as well as features like degassing valves and resealable zippers to maintain freshness. Food waste is a major global issue: the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 notes that one-fifth of food produced is lost or wasted, contributing up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Because coffee is ultimately a food product, the packaging must reliably preserve flavour, aroma, and shelf life, protecting the work of growers and roasters while preventing unnecessary waste. 

Scalability and Operational Practicality

Sustainability also depends on a packaging solution’s ability to perform at scale. Materials must run smoothly on your filling lines, deliver consistently low failure rates, and remain cost-effective as volumes grow. A truly sustainable choice meets environmental goals and integrates seamlessly into your production, logistics, and retail workflows.

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Regulatory Context (2025–2027): Why Coffee Packaging Strategy Matters More Than Ever

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Rapidly changing packaging regulations - especially in major markets such as the UK and the United States - are beginning to influence packaging design, material choice, and the cost/risk profile for brands.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Producer Responsibility Becomes Reality

The UK’s new PackUK‑administered scheme under Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) now requires producers supplying household packaging to:

• Register and report packaging data (material type, weight, class, etc.)  
• From 1 January 2025, supply recyclability assessments under the RAM (Recyclability Assessment Methodology) for their packaging, grading each design “red / amber / green” depending on how recyclable it is.  
• Pay base fees in 2025–26 for the amount and material types placed on the market.  
• From 2026–27, see fees modulated up or down based on recyclability ratings (green = lower fees; red = higher) - creating a strong financial incentive to choose recyclable, easy-to-process packaging.  

Implication for coffee brands & roasters: choosing mono-material, PCR-rich, fully recyclable packaging isn’t just more sustainable, it can reduce future compliance costs and protect against modulation penalties.

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Read more on UK Packaging Compliance here.

🇦🇺 Australia: Targets, EPR Reform & Industry Pressure

Under the national Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) and the 2025 National Packaging Targets, Australia committed to: 100% of packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable; 50% average recycled content; 70% of plastic packaging recycled or composted; and phasing out problematic single-use plastics.  

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However, as of the most recent reviews, progress remains insufficient and the 2025 targets are unlikely to be met on schedule.  

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In response, APCO launched a 2025 national consultation on a strengthened, industry‑led EPR approach - signaling that regulatory reform is coming, and packaging producers (including coffee roasters/packers) may soon bear more responsibility.  

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Implication: For Australian coffee brands (or international ones exporting into Australia), building packaging strategies around recycled content, recyclability, and elimination of problematic single-use plastics is likely to align with upcoming regulatory expectations and may reduce future compliance risk.

Read more on The Future of Sustainabile Packaging in Australia here.

🇺🇸 United States: Growing Patchwork of State-Level EPR & Packaging Laws

While there is no comprehensive federal EPR law for packaging in the U.S. yet, several states have begun implementing or proposing packaging producer‑responsibility laws — particularly targeting plastic waste and encouraging recyclable or compostable packaging. Market watchers expect this patchwork of state laws to grow across 2025–2027.

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Implication: For coffee brands exporting to or operating in multiple U.S. states, designing with recyclable, PCR-rich, mono-material packaging today helps hedge against regulatory fragmentation and future compliance burdens.

Read more on the future of packaging compliance in the US here.

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Post-Consumer Recycled Content: Reducing Packaging Carbon Footprint From the Outset

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While recyclability and compostability determine what can happen at end-of-life, post-consumer recycled (PCR) content improves sustainability metrics much earlier in the packaging lifecycle. PCR reduces carbon emissions without reliance on how a consumer disposes of their packaging. By replacing virgin fossil-based plastic with materials already recovered from the waste stream, PCR dramatically reduces both resource extraction and total carbon emissions.

Why PCR Matters

Using PCR in coffee packaging helps businesses:

• Reduce reliance on virgin plastic lowering demand for new petrochemical extraction.
• Support the recycling industry by increasing demand for high-quality recycled feedstock, strengthening domestic recycling systems.
• Lower carbon emissions immediately because recycled polymers require significantly less energy to process than virgin materials.

Meet emerging regulatory requirements as regions like the EU, UK, and Australia introduce mandatory recycled-content targets under EPR schemes.

The Move Towards Mono-Materials: Designing for Recyclability

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Regulatory trends increasingly favour mono-material packaging that can flow into standard soft‑plastic or film recycling streams. In the UK, recyclability assessments under RAM will penalise complex, multi‑layer, hard-to-recycle structures. In Australia, EPR reform is likely to similarly favour clean, simple material choices.

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For many coffee brands, the most impactful approach is combining these two pathways: PCR content + mono-material recyclable structure. This circular pairing reduces the footprint of the material and improves its end-of-life potential.

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Leading Material Options for Sustainable Coffee Bags

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To help our customers determine which solution is right for them, Grounded has developed a guide focusing on three materials we believe are most interesting for the coffee industry.

We typically guide coffee brands through three primary material pathways. Each has unique functional, environmental, and regulatory considerations.

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Note: Designing for circularity is not the same as achieving it. Collection systems vary widely, especially for cafés and restaurants. Roasters will increasingly need to collaborate with wholesale customers to ensure actual recovery.

• ‍Option 1 - Recyclable mono-material PCR: meets evolving EPR requirements, offers good barrier properties, and maximises recyclability. This includes our Recyclable Flat Bottom Pouch or Recyclable Stand Up Pouch. ‍
• Option 2 - Mixed materials with high PCR content: sometimes necessary for barrier performance, but may risk higher EPR fees or recyclability penalties in stricter jurisdictions. ‍
• Option 3 - Certified Compostable: may still suit some markets (especially where organic-waste composting exists), but carries risk under jurisdictions where compostable streams are limited or poorly managed. Examples include our Compostable Flat Bottom Pouch or Compostable Stand Up Pouch.
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Future innovations: Working for a Better Coffee Packaging Future

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At Grounded: we’re already developing a high-barrier, kerbside-recyclable paper coffee bag (with valve) scheduled for market release in 2026. Innovations like this are likely to become increasingly important — especially if regulations begin restricting problematic barrier coatings, multi-layer films, or composite designs.

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Soft plastic recycling remains a difficult space to navigate, but the more we collectively increase demand for recycled materials through using PCR and designing for recyclability, the infrastructure will continue to develop and catch up. 

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There is No One-Size-Fits-All Strategy For Coffee Packaging

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At Grounded, we are encouraging businesses to explore multi-material strategies, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

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‍Given the shifting regulatory landscape, the most robust packaging strategy is one that:

• Uses PCR-rich, mono-material packaging designed for recyclability
• Meets barrier and freshness needs for coffee (especially for beans or ground coffee)
• Remains compatible with current and emerging recycling infrastructure
• Allows flexibility for different markets and channels (retail, online, wholesale)

In short: choose sustainability and compliance. At Grounded, we help roasters build packaging strategies that meet today’s functional requirements while positioning them strongly for tomorrow’s regulatory environment.

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The Bottom Line

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Sustainable coffee packaging is no longer just about doing the “right thing.” It’s about minimising carbon, ensuring circularity, but also anticipating and complying with regulatory shifts across key markets. For coffee brands, the choices made today around materials and design could impact cost, compliance, and brand resilience in just a few years.

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Grounded helps roasters build tailored packaging strategies that align with local regulatory guidelines, global EPR laws, and real-world recycling/commercial-composting capabilities.

Ready to find the right fit? Reach out to our team to discuss coffee packaging solutions tailored to your business here.

Related articles:

The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Coffee Bags: Part 1

The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Coffee Bags: Part 2