We're Changing Our Coffee Bags.
Over the coming months, you'll notice our coffee moving from paper to plastic. Back in 2023, we made the call to move to paper.
The thinking was simple — cut down on plastic. We backed it, we told you about it, and we meant it.But the bag let us down. Paper is rigid, and rigid bags split — in transit, on the packing line, and sometimes before they ever reached you. A coffee bag has one job: protect the coffee. When too many were failing at it, we had to take a hard look.
Our new pouch is a soft plastic — predominantly polyethylene (PE) with a polypropylene (PP) barrier layer. The technical bit matters for one reason: it seals more tightly and provides a stronger barrier against oxygen and moisture than the paper it replaces. In plain terms, your coffee stays fresher for longer, from our Hawthorn roastery to you.
It's sturdier, too — so we're no longer losing bags to splitting along the way. Less waste, and more coffee where it belongs: in your cup.
We’re always trying to do the right thing, and as manufacturers and governments change how they operate, so must we. In 2023, we decided to switch our packaging to paper bags with a lining that was, at the time, recyclable. Due to various factors, we are now changing to a soft-plastic coffee bag.
At Axil Coffee, we'll always put customer experiences and the coffee we serve first, and that's exactly what this change is about. We'll admit, this change might feel a little strange. However, these new plastic bags are actually a more sustainable choice. Made from PolyPropylene (PP) and PolyEthylene (PE), the new bags are easier to recycle than the old bags, which were a mix of paper and plastic. Mixed materials are tricky to separate and can’t be recycled efficiently. These new bags use a few different plastics with similar melting points, giving them better value for plastic recyclers.
Every new bag carries the "Check Locally" Australasian Recycling Label (ARL). It's a soft plastic, so this bag can not be recycled in your curbside recycling bin and must be placed in a soft plastics collection. Where you can recycle it depends on your council. However, APCO is currently collaborating with Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia (SPSA) to rebuild a coordinated national soft plastics recovery system. This initiative features active drop-off points at over 700 Woolworths supermarkets nationally, alongside integration with the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) program. Check the above website to find your nearest drop-off points. Just make sure the little valve on the bag goes into the general waste first.
