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Equipment · Single-serve

How capsules are made

How single-serve coffee capsules are made – forming the body, grinding and degassing the coffee, dosing, removing oxygen and sealing the lid – and what storage studies show about barrier, oxygen and freshness.

Across the chain: Science · Equipment

Source-checkedby Coffearium verification pass· Last source-checked 27 Oct 2026· Prepared with AI assistance· 19 sources (11 tier A)· 1 contested· Updated 27 Oct 2026· Literature last searched 27 Oct 2026
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Contents
  • Capsule bodies are deep-drawn from aluminium sheet, or thermoformed or injection-moulded from polypropylene, some with an ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) barrier layer.1,3,4
  • Patents describe grinding, short or no degassing, dosing and densifying the coffee, removing air by vacuum or nitrogen, then heat-sealing a lid onto the flange.1,2
  • In storage trials of about a year, capsules with an aluminium body and lid lost freshness markers least; capsules without aluminium lost most.4,5
  • In a 2024 study, oxygen in nitrogen-flushed film packs of plastic capsules rose from about 1.7% after 30 days to 1.9–3% after 180 days.9
  • EU food-contact rules apply to capsule materials; for “compostable” packaging, the Commission points to EN 13432, a standard for industrial composting.13,14,16,19

What a capsule has to do#

A coffee capsule is a sealed single dose of ground coffee for a brewing machine.1 It is a cup-shaped body with a flange at its open end, closed by a lid called a membrane.1 The machine brews through it; the coffee capsules entry explains how. This entry follows the capsule from the factory to the box.

The capsule is also the coffee’s packaging. It has to keep oxygen out, because oxygen stales ground coffee.4,5 Ground coffee also keeps releasing gas, mostly carbon dioxide, so a sealed capsule can build up pressure.6 Production is arranged around these two problems. The packaging entry compares capsule materials with bags and pods.

How capsules are made is described mainly in patents. A patent shows what a company claims to have invented, not what every production line does or how well it works. Few peer-reviewed studies describe industrial capsule lines, so several steps below rest on one patent each.

Making the capsule body#

Aluminium. A patent filed in 2015 by Koninklijke Douwe Egberts describes forming the body by deep drawing.3 A flat sheet is clamped, and tools push it into a cup, preferably cold and in two stages.3 The sheet may be an aluminium alloy, alone or laminated with a polymer film.3 The inner face of the aluminium may carry a lacquer layer.3 In one capsule studied in 2014, the aluminium body had a thin coating of food-grade shellac.4

Plastic. A patent filed in 2013 by Nestec names bodies thermoformed from a combination of polypropylene (PP), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), a barrier polymer, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).1 Of four capsule systems studied in 2014, two had bodies of PP/EVOH/PP with the barrier built in.4,5 A third had an injection-moulded PP body without a barrier, and each capsule was wrapped in aluminium.4

Compostable materials. A 2024 storage study used capsules made of polybutylene succinate (PBS), a bio-based, compostable polymer.8 In storage, these capsules took up water from humid air, so the authors suggest an outer pouch.8 The capsules and the environment entry covers collection, recycling and composting.

Preparing the coffee#

Roasting and resting. A patent application filed in 2014 by Nestec describes an optional resting step for roasted beans, called tempering.2 It evens out water content in the beans.2 According to a coffee science textbook, industrial lines often include tempering silos for whole beans and degassing silos for ground coffee.6 These let gas escape and avoid overpressure in a sealed capsule.6

Grinding. The same patent application cools the beans below room temperature before grinding.2 Industrial grinders for fine grinds include a normaliser, which mixes and compacts the ground coffee.7 According to the textbook, ground coffee must have the right density to fit a given volume, such as a capsule.7 The grinding entry explains particle size and fines.

Degassing. Sources disagree on how much gas should leave before sealing. The textbook states that coffee filled to capacity into sealed containers from which no gas can escape must be completely degassed.7 Two Nestec patents keep degassing short or leave it out.1,2 The gas then raises the pressure inside the sealed capsule.1 The degassing entry explains where the gas comes from.

Filling and sealing#

The Nestec patent of 2013 describes the filling line in order.1 Stacked empty bodies are separated and lined up.1 Ground coffee is dosed into each body and densified so that it settles.1 A lid membrane is cut from a roll and tacked to the flange at a few points.1 Air is drawn out through the gaps, and the membrane is then heat-sealed to the flange.1 The patent’s background cites earlier work that seals capsules under vacuum or a controlled atmosphere to reduce oxidation from contact with air.1

Instead of a vacuum, air can be replaced with nitrogen, an unreactive gas. The 2014 patent application fills and seals under nitrogen flushing in one example.2 The capsules in two 2024 storage studies were packed under nitrogen.8,9 Some capsules then go into an outer pack, in one study again under nitrogen.4,9

1Form the bodyAluminium deep-drawn;plastic thermoformedor moulded 1,3,4 2Roast and temperResting evens outwater content 2,6 3Grind and normaliseCooled beans; thenormaliser setsdensity 2,7 4DegasSilos release gas;two patents keep itshort or skip it 1,2,6 gas, mainly CO₂ 6 5Dose and densifyCoffee settlesin the body 1 6Remove airVacuum through gaps,or nitrogen flush 1,2 air 1 7Heat-seal the lidMembrane sealedto the flange 1,3 8Outer packSome systems wrapcapsules again 4,9 coffee streamgas or air outSchematic. Steps and their order vary between makers; few are published.
The steps of making a capsule as described in patents and a textbook, from forming the body to the outer pack; gas and air leave the coffee stream at degassing and evacuation. Schematic; steps and their order vary between makers.1,2,3,6,7

The finished capsule holds several layers, each with a job. The drawing below takes an aluminium capsule apart.

7564321
  1. Lid membrane. Aluminium, plastic, paper or a laminate, often with a sealing layer.1
  2. Heat-seal layer. A lacquer or layer on the lid that improves the seal to the body.3
  3. Headspace. Gas above the coffee: air removed by vacuum, or replaced by nitrogen.1,2
  4. Ground coffee. Dosed and densified so that it settles in the body.1
  5. Flange. The rim the lid is sealed to.1
  6. Inner lacquer. A coating on the food side of the aluminium.3,4
  7. Body. Deep-drawn aluminium sheet here; plastic bodies are thermoformed or injection-moulded.1,3,4
An aluminium coffee capsule drawn apart: lid, coffee and body, with the layers named in patents and a textbook. Schematic, not to scale.

How long capsules keep#

Barrier material matters most in the storage studies consulted. In a 2014 comparison of four capsule systems, the capsule with an aluminium body and lid kept its freshness markers almost unchanged for about a year.4,5 The two without any aluminium lost freshness fastest.4 Freshness was measured as a ratio of two sulphur aroma compounds; the freshness entry explains it.

Coffee variety matters too. A 2020 study stored arabica and robusta capsules for up to 24 months; the arabica coffee was more stable.11 Humidity matters for compostable capsules: in a 2024 study, they took up water during storage and the brew became more acidic.8

Gas, pressure and degassing#

The gas trapped in roasted coffee is mainly carbon dioxide.6 According to the roasting chapter of a coffee science textbook, degassing silos and machinery release it before packing to avoid overpressure in a hermetically closed capsule.6 The grinding chapter adds that ground coffee filled to capacity into sealed containers from which no gas can escape must be completely degassed.7 The same passage says ground coffee can be processed once its gas content is uncritical for the chosen packaging format.7

The two Nestec patents take another route. WO 2015/104172 lists degassing times of 120 min or less and prefers 5–35 min.2 It states that the best effects were obtained when degassing was left out entirely.2 It keeps the time from the end of grinding to sealing below 180 min, in some examples below 20 min.2 EP 2 870 070 claims a degassing time of less than 20 minutes between grinding and sealing, and describes less than ten minutes in one embodiment.1 There, the cavity is evacuated at 100–800 mbar below atmospheric pressure before sealing.1 Gas released afterwards raises the internal pressure, preferably to 1050–1800 mbar, which reaches equilibrium about 72 hours after sealing.1 The lid first bulges inwards under the vacuum.1

Internal pressure can be measured. A 2020 study of commercial capsules placed each capsule in a closed vessel and raised the outside pressure until the bulge of the capsule foil visibly changed shape.12 It found no correlation between capsule pressure and how fast the capsules extracted.12 No study consulted for this entry measured how internal pressure changes aroma during storage.

Grind and density for capsules#

WO 2015/104172 cools the roasted beans to between −50 and 10 °C and grinds them at −5 to 10 °C.2 An optional normalising step then sets the density; its example is 420 g/L for 5.5 g of coffee.2 According to the grinding chapter, a normaliser also cuts loose silverskin and reduces fines by sticking them to larger particles.7

Commercial capsules differ widely in grind. In the 2020 study, the share of particles below 100 µm ranged from 6% to 16% by volume.12 The coffee capsules entry covers how grind and dose change extraction.

Oxygen in capsules and packs#

Two levers set the oxygen in a capsule: what is left in the headspace at sealing, and what passes through the walls later.4 EP 2 870 070 lowers the first by densifying the coffee and drawing out the gas before sealing.1 Nitrogen flushing replaces the air instead.2 PBS capsules in a 2024 study were packed under nitrogen with residual oxygen below 1%.8

Oxygen rises during storage. In a 2024 study, plastic capsules (7.3 g of an arabica–robusta blend) were packed in tens in multilayer film under 100% nitrogen.9 Oxygen in the headspace of the packs, measured before opening, was about 1.7% after 30 days and 1.9–3% after 180 days, at 25 °C and 40 °C.9 Packs of paper pods in the same study stayed lower: about 0.4% after 30 days and 1.4–1.8% after 180 days.9 In a second study by the same group, pods in either film reached at most 0.93% after 12 months at 25 °C.10

00.511.522.533.5% oxygen in headspacePBS capsules, at packingbelow 18 Plastic capsules, 30 days≈1.79 Plastic capsules, 180 days1.9–39 Paper pods, 30 days≈0.49 Paper pods, 180 days1.4–1.89 Paper pods, highest over12 months at 25 °C0.9310
Data table
Point% oxygen in headspaceSource
PBS capsules, at packingbelow 10–18
Plastic capsules, 30 days≈1.71.79
Plastic capsules, 180 days1.9–31.9–39
Paper pods, 30 days≈0.40.49
Paper pods, 180 days1.4–1.81.4–1.89
Paper pods, highest over 12 months at 25 °C0.930.9310
Oxygen in the headspace of nitrogen-packed capsules and pods, or of the film packs holding them, from three Italian storage studies published in 2024. Values at different times and in different packs; not a comparison of brands.8,9,10

An outer wrap does not always help. In the 2014 comparison, a capsule wrapped singly in aluminium foil had more headspace, and so more residual oxygen in absolute terms after packing.4 Its freshness index changed less than that of the capsules without aluminium, but more than that of the all-aluminium capsule.4 The textbook also notes that the starting values differed between systems, which the authors speculate reflects aroma lost during processing before packing.4,5

Barrier, moisture and compostable capsules#

In the 2014 comparison, the absence of aluminium had a strong effect on the loss of freshness.4,5 The capsule-to-capsule spread also differed: the aluminium system varied least.4 The authors read this as a difference in consistency between capsule systems.5

In the 2024 PBS study, capsules were stored at 20–45 °C and 54–75% relative humidity for up to about 18 months.8 The coffee reached its monolayer moisture content, which the authors treat as a critical level, after 327 days at 20 °C and 54% humidity. At 45 °C and 75% humidity it took 26 days.8 Brew pH fell from 5.40 to below 5.1, which the authors treat as unacceptable, within about one month in the harshest condition.8 They suggest secondary packaging such as pouches, and a cost–benefit analysis before moving from conventional to compostable capsules.8

In the 2024 capsule and pod study, peroxide values in capsule coffee rose from 0.59 to 1.72–1.84 meq O₂/kg fat over 180 days.9 Hexanal was not detected.9 Consumers found no significant difference between the samples.9

Food-contact rules and standards#

This section describes what the texts say, as of October 2026. It is not legal advice.

All materials. Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 requires food-contact materials to be made under good manufacturing practice.13 Under normal or foreseeable use, they must not transfer constituents to food in quantities that could endanger health, change the food’s composition unacceptably or impair its flavour.13 It also requires traceability at all stages, and a written declaration of compliance where a specific measure applies.13

Plastics. Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 applies to plastic food-contact materials, including multilayers held together by adhesives.14 It sets an overall migration limit of 10 mg of constituents per dm² of food-contact surface.14 It also covers plastic layers separated from the food by a functional barrier.14 The overall migration limit does not apply to plastic layers in multi-material multilayers, such as aluminium laminated with plastic.14

Aluminium. No binding EU limit for metal release from aluminium was found in the sources consulted. A presentation by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) lists Council of Europe release limits for 21 elements, 5 mg/kg of food for aluminium.15 It stresses that these limits are recommendations only.15 The contaminants and food safety entry reports a French agency study that measured metals in capsule coffee.

Compostable claims. The European Commission states that a harmonised European standard exists for industrially compostable packaging.16 A Commission guidance notice names EN 13432 on industrial composting as the standard to use as guidance until a new one is adopted.19 Its text was not consulted for this entry, so no test criteria are given here. According to two trade bodies, it sets limits on disintegration and biodegradation and also tests heavy metals and effects on the compost.17,18 According to the British Plastics Federation, no specific international or national standard covers home composting.17 The Commission notes that the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation regulates industrial compostability for items such as coffee pods.16 The capsules and the environment entry explains which single-serve units it covers.

Reference values#

Parameter Value Basis Source
Body wall thickness 80–500 µm Deep-drawn aluminium or laminate body; patent 3
Aluminium alloys named 3005, 3105, 8011, 8079 Patent 3
Bean temperature before grinding −50 to 10 °C Patent application 2
Density after normalising 420 g/L for 5.5 g (example) Patent application 2
Dose 4–16 g Roast and ground coffee, cavity 8–30 mL; patent 1
Grinding to sealing <10 min (one embodiment); <180 min Two patents 1,2
Vacuum before sealing 100–800 mbar below atmospheric Patent 1
Internal pressure after sealing 1050–1800 mbar, equilibrium after ≈72 h Patent; preferred range 1
Lid membrane 10–250 µm Patent 1
Residual oxygen at packing <1% PBS capsules under nitrogen 8
Headspace oxygen in storage ≈1.7% (30 days); 1.9–3% (180 days) Packs of plastic capsules in nitrogen-flushed film, 25 and 40 °C 9
Fines below 100 µm 6–16% by volume Commercial capsules 12
Overall migration limit, plastics 10 mg/dm² EU Regulation 10/2011 14
Aluminium release limit 5 mg/kg food (recommendation) Council of Europe, as cited by the BfR 15

Patent values describe claimed ranges and examples, not measured practice.

Quality checks and measurement#

The studies consulted measured capsules in these ways:

  • Headspace oxygen. An analyser measures oxygen in the pack headspace before the pack is opened.9,10
  • Internal pressure. The capsule sits in a closed vessel while the outside pressure rises until the lid changes shape.12
  • Freshness index. Headspace gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) of aroma compounds, as a ratio.4,5
  • Oxidation. Peroxide value of the coffee fat and volatile oxidation products.9
  • Moisture. Water activity and moisture content of the ground coffee, and brew pH.8

No source consulted for this entry describes the in-line checks used on industrial capsule lines, such as dose weight, seal strength or leak testing.

Risks and defects#

  • Too much gas left. The textbook links overpressure in a sealed capsule to too little degassing before packing.6,7
  • Oxygen. Residual oxygen and oxygen entering through the walls drive staling; aluminium layers slow it.4,5,9
  • Moisture. Capsules with a weak water-vapour barrier take up water; brew pH then falls.8
  • Variation. Capsule-to-capsule spread differed between systems in the 2014 comparison.4,5

Open questions#

  • Degassing before sealing. Complete degassing versus a short or skipped step with a controlled overpressure; no comparison was found (see Contested).
  • Industrial practice. Published data on line speeds, residual oxygen at sealing, reject rates and seal checks across makers.
  • Compostable barriers. How much barrier compostable capsules need, and what their outer packs add to their footprint.
  • Aroma and pressure. Whether internal pressure in the capsule affects aroma retention during storage.

Key studies#

Glöss et al., 2014 – Freshness indices. Measured ratios of headspace aroma compounds in four commercial capsule systems and in whole beans in four packages, stored for up to one year. Packaging with an aluminium layer protected best, and the systems differed in capsule-to-capsule consistency.

Chimia 68(3), 179–182 · doi:10.2533/chimia.2014.179

Basile et al., 2024 – Pods and capsules in multilayer film. Stored paper pods and plastic capsules, packed under nitrogen in an aluminium laminate or a metallised film, at 25 and 40 °C for 180 days. Headspace oxygen rose slowly, more in capsules than in pods; consumers found no significant difference between the samples.

Foods 13(5), 759 · doi:10.3390/foods13050759

Lopriore et al., 2024 – Compostable capsules and moisture. Stored coffee in nitrogen-packed polybutylene succinate capsules at three temperatures and three humidities for up to about 18 months. The coffee took up water and the brew became more acidic, in the worst case within about a month, which led the authors to suggest secondary packaging.

Food Packaging and Shelf Life 46, 101403 · doi:10.1016/j.fpsl.2024.101403

Eiermann et al., 2020 – Ground coffee in capsules. Characterised the ground coffee, internal pressure, extraction and flavour of commercial single-serve capsules. Fines varied widely between capsules, and internal pressure did not correlate with extraction dynamics.

Scientific Reports 10, 17079 · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-74138-1

Contested
  • Degassing before sealing: a textbook chapter on grinding states that ground coffee filled to capacity into sealed containers from which no gas can escape must be completely degassed; the same passage says coffee can be processed once its gas content is uncritical for the chosen packaging format.7 Two patents with one applicant (Nestec) describe the opposite: degassing kept short or left out, with the gas released after sealing raising the internal pressure of the capsule.1,2 A patent shows what is claimed, not what works best or what lines do; no study consulted for this entry compared the two approaches.
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Change log

  • – EN 13432 test criteria (12 weeks, 90% in 6 months, 2 mm, 10%) removed; EN 13432 is now named from the Commission's PPWR guidance notice. Reason: The two trade-body sources are not independent (the BPF text is credited to a bioplastics maker), and the standard itself was not consulted.
  • – Headspace oxygen values from the 2024 pods-and-capsules study now described as oxygen in the film packs, measured before opening. Reason: The study measured the packaging headspace, not the inside of the capsule.
  • – Added that the EU overall migration limit for plastics does not apply to plastic layers in multi-material multilayers. Reason: Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, Article 14(4); relevant to aluminium–plastic capsules.
  • – Patent and textbook statements corrected: oxidation aim is background citing earlier work; claimed degassing time under 20 minutes added; plastic body materials include PET; grinding chapter's degassing rule quoted with its condition (filled to capacity) and qualifier. Reason: Read against the patent texts and the textbook passage in context.

Sources

  1. A/BVillain, O.; Mathias, P. A.; Magri, C.; Merckaert, P.; Guenat, C. (applicant Nestec S.A.) (2016). Method for packaging a beverage powder in a beverage capsule (EP 2 870 070 B1). European Patent Office; priority 4 Jul 2012, filed 25 Jun 2013, granted 14 Sep 2016 (Google Patents).Quoted passage: a description; Patent; method for filling ground coffee into capsules of aluminium or plastic, densifying it, evacuating and heat-sealing; no performance data..
  2. A/BMathias, P. A.; Djamer, A.; Villain, O.; Guenat, C.; Sarrazin-Horisberger, C.; Mestdagh, F.; Eichler, P.; Kessler, U.; Closset, E. (applicant Nestec S.A.) (2015). Process of preparing ground coffee ingredient and capsule containing such ingredient (WO 2015/104172 A1). World Intellectual Property Organization; priority 8 Jan 2014, filed 19 Dec 2014, published 16 Jul 2015 (Google Patents).Quoted passage: a description; Patent application; preparing roast and ground coffee for capsules by cooling before grinding, optional normalising and short or no degassing; no independent data..
  3. A/BShabudin, E.; Halliday, A.; Chapman, A.; Banister, S.; Jelley, S. (original assignee Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.V.) (2021). Method of forming a cup-shaped body for a beverage capsule (US 10,960,453 B2). United States Patent and Trademark Office; priority 14 Nov 2014, filed 13 Nov 2015, granted 30 Mar 2021 (Google Patents).Quoted passage: a description; Patent; two-stage drawing of aluminium or aluminium–polymer laminate sheet into a capsule body; lid with optional heat-seal lacquer..
  4. BYeretzian, C.; Blank, I.; Wyser, Y. (2017). Protecting the Flavors – Freshness as a Key to Quality (chapter 14). The Craft and Science of Coffee (ed. B. Folmer), Academic Press, 329–353. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00014-1 · other copiesQuoted passage: a result cited from earlier work; Textbook chapter; summarises the authors’ own 2014 comparison of four commercial capsule systems from the Swiss market, stored at room temperature..
  5. AGlöss, A. N.; Schönbächler, B.; Rast, M.; Deuber, L.; Yeretzian, C. (2014). Freshness Indices of Roasted Coffee: Monitoring the Loss of Freshness for Single Serve Capsules and Roasted Whole Beans in Different Packaging. Chimia 68(3), 179–182. doi:10.2533/chimia.2014.179 · other copiesQuoted passage: the authors’ own result; Lab study; headspace GC–MS freshness indices of four commercial capsule systems (Switzerland) and whole beans in four packages, stored up to one year..
  6. BSchenker, S.; Rothgeb, T. (2017). The Roast – Creating the Beans' Signature. In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 11, pp. 245–271. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00011-6 · other copiesQuoted passage: a description; Textbook chapter on roasting; industrial roasting and grinding lines in general..
  7. Bvon Blittersdorff, M.; Klatt, C. (2017). The Grind – Particles and Particularities. In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 13, pp. 311–328.Quoted passage: a description; Textbook chapter on grinding; industrial grinders with normalisers; one author works for a grinder maker..
  8. ALopriore, M.; Alongi, M.; Calligaris, S.; Manzocco, L.; Ravaioli, G.; Nucci, A.; Nicoli, M. C. (2024). Moisture uptake during storage of coffee packed into compostable capsules decreases the quality of coffee brew. Food Packaging and Shelf Life 46, 101403. doi:10.1016/j.fpsl.2024.101403 · other copiesQuoted passage: the authors’ own result; Lab storage study; 7 g arabica–robusta blend in PBS capsules, 20–45 °C and 54–75% relative humidity, up to about 18 months; Italy..
  9. ABasile, G.; De Luca, L.; Calabrese, M.; Lambiase, G.; Pizzolongo, F.; Romano, R. (2024). The Lipidic and Volatile Components of Coffee Pods and Capsules Packaged in an Alternative Multilayer Film. Foods 13(5), 759. doi:10.3390/foods13050759 · other copiesQuoted passage: the authors’ own result; Storage study; paper pods (8.5 g arabica) and plastic capsules (7.3 g arabica–robusta) in two multilayer films under nitrogen, 25 and 40 °C, 180 days; Italy..
  10. ACalabrese, M.; De Luca, L.; Basile, G.; Lambiase, G.; Romano, R.; Pizzolongo, F. (2024). A Recyclable Polypropylene Multilayer Film Maintaining the Quality and the Aroma of Coffee Pods during Their Shelf Life. Molecules 29(13), 3006. doi:10.3390/molecules29133006 · other copiesQuoted passage: the authors’ own result; Storage study; paper pods (8.5 g arabica) in aluminium laminate or all-polypropylene film under nitrogen, 25 and 40 °C, 12 months; Italy..
  11. ACincotta, F.; Tripodi, G.; Merlino, M.; Verzera, A.; Condurso, C. (2020). Variety and shelf-life of coffee packaged in capsules. LWT – Food Science and Technology 118, 108718. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2019.108718 · other copiesQuoted passage: the authors’ own result; Storage study; arabica and robusta coffee in capsules, up to 24 months, volatiles by SPME–GC–MS and a consumer test; capsule material not stated in the abstract; Italy..
  12. AEiermann, A.; Smrke, S.; Guélat, L.-M.; Wellinger, M.; Rahn, A.; Yeretzian, C. (2020). Extraction of single serve coffee capsules: linking properties of ground coffee to extraction dynamics and cup quality. Scientific Reports 10, 17079. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-74138-1 · other copiesQuoted passage: the authors’ own result; Lab study; 43 Nespresso or compatible capsules from Swiss supermarkets; ground coffee properties, internal pressure, extraction and sensory profile..
  13. AEuropean Parliament; Council of the European Union (2004). Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. Official Journal of the European Union, L 338, 13.11.2004.Quoted passage: a recommendation; EU framework regulation for all food-contact materials and articles (Articles 3, 16 and 17)..
  14. AEuropean Commission (2011). Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 of 14 January 2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. Official Journal of the European Union, L 12, 15.1.2011 (EUR-Lex).Quoted passage: a recommendation; EU specific measure for plastic food-contact materials, including multilayers (Articles 2, 12–15)..
  15. AMüller, F. (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, BfR) (2014). Aluminium-Exposition aus Lebensmittelkontaktmaterialien (presentation, 15th BfR Forum “Risiken durch Aluminium im Alltag”). German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), 26 November 2014.Quoted passage: a result cited from earlier work; Presentation by the German federal risk assessor on aluminium from food-contact materials in general; cites the Council of Europe resolution CM/Res(2013)9 on metals and alloys; does not mention capsules..
  16. AEuropean Commission, Directorate-General for Environment Bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics (policy page). European Commission.Quoted passage: a recommendation; Commission policy page on compostable plastics and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation..
  17. BBritish Plastics Federation (BPF) Standards for compostability. British Plastics Federation.Quoted passage: a definition; Trade body summary of EN 13432 test requirements (industrial composting), text credited to the bioplastics maker Novamont; the standard itself was not consulted..
  18. BEuropean Bioplastics Do (industrially) compostable plastics decrease the quality of the compost?. European Bioplastics e.V..Quoted passage: a definition; Industry association FAQ summarising EN 13432 requirements for industrial composting..
  19. AEuropean Commission (2026). Commission Notice – Guidance document for Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (C(2026) 3702 final). European Commission (EUR-Lex).Quoted passage: a recommendation; Commission interpretation of the PPWR, section on compostable packaging and presumption of conformity..

Tier A · authoritative · B · trade and expert · C · general. Supporting quotes for every source are in the data version of this entry. If a publisher’s site refuses access, try the doi link or “other copies”.

The literature for this entry was last searched on 27 Oct 2026. A statement that no source consulted for this entry shows something refers to the sources above; newer or missing work may exist.

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