From lids at Tim Hortons to cups at small P.E.I. cafés, coffee's future is compostable

Some coffee shops on Prince Edward Island are doing away with plastic lids in a push to be more environmentally friendly — and now one of Canada's biggest coffee players is joining them.

This week, Tim Hortons is starting a 12-week trial of new fibre-based lids for hot beverages that have been years in the making. A first round of testing took place in Vancouver last year, and P.E.I. sippers will be getting an updated version based on that experiment.

Paul Yang, the company's lead in sustainability, packaging and procurement, said the new lids are plastic-free but will look similar to the hot-beverage lids customers are used to.

"We've been making subtle improvements to make our packaging more reusable, recyclable and compostable," Yang said. "We want to do the right things for the environment."

If the lid is clean after you have finished your drink, you can recycle it. Lids stained with coffee or tea can be composted.

Yang said the feedback from P.E.I. customers will be used to improve the lids for an eventual cross-Canada rollout.

The lids won't be an entirely new experience for Canada's smallest province. Options like compostable lids and new cup designs are quickly becoming more common among the Island's indie coffee spots.

The Gallery co-owner Jessica Fritz says environmentally friendly measures and a small footprint are a key part of the business's identity. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)

At The Gallery, a café and art gallery in the heart of Charlottetown's historic downtown, patrons are getting their drinks sealed with plant-based lids.

"We're trying to keep the footprint small when it comes to all of our to-go wares," said Jessica Fritz, co-owner of The Gallery. "There's a lot of plant-based cutlery that is compostable, biodegradable, and doesn't add to the plastic waste in the world."

China cups are used for eat-in orders, and Fritz said the café also offers wooden utensils to reinforce the business's identity as a green choice.

"We produce a lot in a society like ours, and the smaller we, as small business owners, can keep the footprint on something like that, the better we feel about it," Fritz said.

Laura Noel echoes the sentiment. She owns The 5th Wave Espresso & Tea Bar, which was born after a local Starbucks location closed and laid off employees who decided to create a coffee shop of their own.

Laura Noel is the owner of The 5th Wave Espresso & Tea Bar in Charlottetown, launched by some former Starbucks employees. Their cups are compostable and their lids are recyclable plastic. (Ken Linton/CBC News)

When 5th Wave opened in Charlottetown, Noel said the focus was on being as eco-friendly as possible, which meant offering sustainably sourced coffee and using both cups and lids that were compostable.

"We really put thought and effort into anything that we bring into the store," she said.

They have run into some trouble with the cost of the more environmentally friendly items, however. At 5th Wave, they now use recyclable plastic lids because compostable ones were double the price, Noel said.

A cup without a lid

Over at Knead a Brake bakery in New Annan, owner Raphael Amiot-Savard said a focus on environmentally friendly operations was baked into the store's core.

Late last year, Knead a Brake introduced the Good Cup brand: a fully paper cup that doesn't include a lid.

Knead a Brake in New Annan sells its takeout coffee in The Good Cup, a one-piece design made of paper that does not need a lid and can be composted, said owner Raphaël Amiot-Savard. (Sheehan Desjardins/CBC News)

"It's good for cold drinks, hot drinks … the design actually makes it really easy for kids to use and [it's] a little bit more spill-proof," Amiot-Savard said.

"It makes it really simple for everybody to understand that all of it goes in the green bin and it doesn't need to be separated."

Amiot-Savard said it took some time, but customers have warmed up to the new cups and appreciate having a compostable option.

He also pointed out that one of the Good Cup cups is about the same price as the conventional cup-lid combo.