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Today, between 5 and 6 percent of households use a single serve coffee maker, with the majority of those using the Keurig single cup brewing system, which uses disposable plastic K-Cups that look like supersize creamer containers.

The simplicity and speed of Keurig brewers are appealing. You pop a K-Cup into the machine, get a fresh cup of coffee in 30 seconds, and then toss out the K-Cup.

Since 2006, Keurig, has been part of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., a company that touts its efforts at social and environmental responsibility.

Analysts say that there were were 5 billion K-Cups were sold in the U.S. this year, creating what seems like an  environmental dilemma for Green Mountain, as K-Cups are made of totally non-recyclable plastic and foil.

Every time the company sells a K-Cup, it rakes in about 16 cents of profit, according to market analysts. When other coffee roasters produce their own K-Cups to be used with Keurig brewers, they pay a 6 cent royalty to Keurig, based on a consumer price of about 55 cents per cup of coffee.

Keurig says the company hasn’t been hearing complaints from very many consumers about the non-recyclable K-Cups, but finding a more environmentally friendly alternative is a huge part of their research and development. Online, bloggers have remarked on the irony of fair trade and organic coffees being packaged in non-recyclable plastic.

But finding new materials to replace the current polyethylene and polystyrene used in the cups is proving a challenge: Any replacement material needs to withstand the heat of 186-degree water, keep air and moisture from making the coffee go stale, and be easy for the brewing device to puncture without shattering.

And even if Keurig can come up with a recyclable cup, there are two further questions: will consumers be willing to remove the foil cap and the paper filter inside before tossing the cup in the recycling bin, and will city recycling programs reject the cup due to it’s small size.

The company plans to start testing paper K-Cups this year, but only as packaging for teas, which don’t lose their flavor as quickly as coffee does when exposed to air.

It’s interesting that companies that don’t make sustainability a prominent part of their corporate mission, don’t get the same scrutiny as those that do.

But at Green Mountain’s website, corporate social responsibility is highlighted on the homepage, where the company says:

“For over 25 years, we have been on a deliberate journey to create and sustain a values driven company that views profit as a means to achieve a higher purpose.”

That higher purpose combined with Keurig’s blistering growth creates what seems like an increasingly urgent environmental dilemma for Green Mountain.

Keurig does offer consumers a reusable filter accessory that can be filled with coffee grounds when each cup is made, but the company’s financial success relies on sales of K-Cups.

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