New bags, now 100% recyclable

As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices, Market Lane is continuously seeking to make decisions that minimise our environmental impact. This is an iterative and ongoing pursuit – we are constantly evaluating our practices, researching widely, experimenting boldly, and then implementing changes that are markedly better and take us in a positive direction.  

Over the past decade, we've dedicated considerable time and effort to finding ways to reduce waste in our supply chain, including rethinking our coffee packaging. In 2018, we replaced our foil-lined bags with partially biodegradable Biotre bags made from renewable plant-based materials; a groundbreaking move at the time. With new and exciting advancements in materials and technologies, however, we've spent the last two years researching and testing new packaging solutions, and we are proud to announce that we are now transitioning to fully paper-recyclable bags!

We’re so excited to be rolling out these new bags and taking this step, driven by our belief that good coffee should be good for everyone – including our producing partners, our team members, our customers, our wholesale partners and, of course, our planet. Below are some nitty-gritty details and answers to questions you might have about these new bags…

What materials are these bags made from?  

They are made from paper (85%), with a very thin plastic lining (15%) that enables the bag to be food-safe. 

Are these bags recyclable? 

Yes! Both the bags and the labels on them are 100% recyclable. Simply pop them in with your kerbside paper or commingled recycling. Easy! 

Are these bags compostable?  

They’re not. We explored the option of compostable bags but ultimately decided to opt for paper-recyclable bags, as these have the greatest chance of giving the material another life and are the easiest to dispose of responsibly. Compostable bags are problematic, as there aren’t yet widely available composting facilities in Australia, so most end up in landfill. On the flipside, paper recycling is one of the most widely available and widely adopted recycling methods out there.  

How are these bags better than your previous bags?  

There are some huge environmental wins in transitioning to these new bags. Firstly, they are 100% kerbside recyclable. They are also less resource-intensive than our previous bags, using 86% less fossil fuels and 95% less water, and emitting 83% less CO2. 

Do the bags have a valve or tin tie? 

They don’t – we chose to move away from valves and tin ties to reduce waste and to ensure that the entire bag is recyclable. Customers purchasing ground coffee in our shops will be given a tin tie to help secure their bag; these can be kept and reused, or returned to us for recycling. 

Does this new packaging impact freshness?  

We did a lot of testing over a two-year period before making the decision to switch to these bags. Driven by our uncompromising passion for exceptional coffee, we wanted to make sure we felt confident and understood any impact on quality before we made this switch. We tested coffee stored in these bags, as well as our Biotre bags, compostable bags, soft plastic, Sugarflex, and foil bags. We tasted the coffee one week after roasting, and then again at two weeks, and at six weeks. Overall, we found the effect on coffee quality of these bags versus the Biotre bags to be minimal, and versus some of the other types of packaging, the quality was actually better.

How should I store my coffee? 

Once you get your coffee home, we recommend transferring it to an airtight container – a jar, tin or snaplock container will do the trick (or you can invest in a fancy vacuum container like the Fellow Atmos, which we’re retailing at a discount this month).  

If you don’t have a container on hand, securing your coffee bag with a clip, peg or elastic band will work, too.

Who makes these bags? 

Detpak make these bags from sustainably and ethically sourced paper, and using water-based inks and water-soluble glues. The bags have been certified to the globally recognised standard for recyclability (PTS-RH 021/97), plus they’ve undergone and passed the Australian Recycling Label process (PREP) for determining recyclability.  

And what about the labels? 

Our bag labels are FSC-certified and made from post-consumer waste. They are also paper-recyclable, so there’s no need to remove them before popping your bag in the recycling bin. 

When will these new bags be in the shops?

We're transitioning to these new bags right now and, by the end of the year, they will be in all of our shops. Woohoo! 

Have a question or comment? 

Thanks for reading all about our new bags! If you have any questions or comments about these bags, please feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to chat or help however we can.

Email: hello@marketlane.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)3 9804 7434