Being a mom, there are certain things in life I cannot live without. Obviously, Disney Junior and endless amount of toys make my life a lot easier but coffee gives me life. It sounds dramatic, I know, but any parent out there reading this knows exactly where I am coming from! We all have our vices and coffee is my kryptonite. I don’t discriminate when it comes to preparing java, whether it is from my favorite local roaster, my own coffee pot or that quick instant cup out of a Keurig, you can bet your bottom dollar not a drop will be left in my mug at day’s end.

Single-serve coffee cups have given a new meaning to coffee on-the-go. Even though the cost of the single-serve cup is proven to be higher overall than the standard coffee grounds, the savings in time makes it worth it for the die-hard caffeine addicts. Guilty as charged and with no shame at all, I am one of those addicts but the tree hugger side of me sticks to the old school Mr. Coffee maker every morning. My Keurig is on standby if I desperately need that afternoon pick-me-up and takes residence behind me in my office as I write this blog. I like sharing so it is “open to the public” during work hours for my fellow CVC comrades, but they provide their own goods! Coworkers know to discard their used K-cups into my recycling box but it made me wonder, how many other people think to recycle them?

To answer the question, it is approximated that nearly 20 billion k-cups ended up in landfills in 2017, that’s enough to wrap the earth 12 times! Not many people think to recycle them at all. The cups will take thousands of years to decompose and have become a big contributor to our growing plastic pollution problem. Ok, now I’m cringing.

So, why is someone in the industrial vibration industry writing a blog about K-cups anyways? The answer is simple, awareness.

There are companies out there who take these K-cups and recycle them, we’ve partnered up with a few recently. One of Cleveland Vibrator’s core values is to understand the goals of our customers and help them achieve them. When the goal is to help decrease the amount of plastic pollution entering our landfills, we are all in.

How does a k-cup get recycled? There are 4 different materials that make up a k-cup including plastic, aluminum, coffee grinds, and a paper filter. In order to successfully recycle the parts, they need to be separated and sorted according to the material makeup. We know a little something about separating and sorting and this is where our equipment comes into play.

We were approached to help a customer implement a vibratory screener into their recycling process that separated the coffee grinds from the plastic cups once the cups had been shredded into smaller pieces. Our R&D team engineered an electromechanical vibratory screener that would feed into two separate Gaylord containers, with coffee grinds in one and the cups into another. The customer was happy with the results but found that their screen deck needed to be cleaned more often than anticipated. Efficiency and time savings are of the essence for just about everyone these days, they needed a solution to this issue.

I said before, the customer was shredding the cups prior to screening and it had not been taken into consideration that the fibers from the filter would too, pass over the screen deck. The screen is suited for the material; however, the fibers were just the right size to jam up the openings on the screen deck and were the root of the issue. Back to the drawing board we went! A second vibratory screener was designed but this time with a feature that would help our customer with this issue. The screener was fit with a ball tray deck to reduce blinding. Polyurethane balls were installed below the deck and bounce freely below during material processing, knocking plugged up fibers out of the screen deck openings. With design requirements maxing out at processing 2,000 pounds per hour, this feature surely helped keep up with efficiency and provided a low maintenance solution for our customer.

It’s pretty neat stuff if you ask me. I tend to get excited over small victories; they’re just as awesome as the biggies but tend to happen more frequently. In the grand scheme, are we going to save the planet with these two awesome pieces of equipment? Nope, probably not… there are definitely bigger fish to fry. But if we can help even in the littlest ways, I’ll chalk it up as a win or in other words, a small victory.

Being conscious of what you’re throwing into your garbage goes a long way. Keurig is making an effort to make their cups fully recyclable by 2020 so until then, we need to pick up the slack. There are incredible products out there that make it easy. One that comes to mind is called “Recycle a cup” that separates the pieces of the cup out for you. What you do with the parts is up to you, we suggest recycling the plastic with your weekly pick up in your neighborhood or get crafty with them. I am sure Pinterest has great ideas but beware that site has a funny way of sucking you in for hours on end. The coffee makes great compost in gardens too. If you don’t feel like getting fancy, separating out the plastic from the grinds and discarding them into the trash/recycling containers decreases the decomposition time substantially. Everyone wins.

We may be on the planet for a few decades but it continues to rotate long after we are gone. Let’s do our part to make sure it will continue to turn in a healthier state for future generations to come. Recycling is a great place to start.

Do you have an application that sounds a little something like this? We’d love to hear from you and are happy to help in any way we can. Contact us today.

Until next time, movers and shakers! #VibrationEducation

Katy Sabo

Katy Sabo has been the Industrial Vibrator Duchess of The Cleveland Vibrator Company since 2014. The originator of #VibrationEducation, Katy has helped create CVC brand awareness across the globe and has made it her personal priority to share the importance of Industrial Vibration with anyone willing to listen! When she isn’t shaking things up in the Marketing Department, you can usually find her shopping with her favorite sidekicks (she’s the proud mom of two little ladies), going on long walks/runs with her favorite furry family members, or rooting on any Cleveland team with her diehard fan of a husband.