On its way to becoming a shiny example of an eco-conscious, green city, Hamburg put together 150 pages of strict regulations under the title of "The Guide to Green Procurement", ordering eco-friendly measures (like going car-free in the next 20 years) to be put into effect immediately by all public service providers in the city.

Included in the document is also a very clear ban on purchasing disposable packaging, such as plastic plates, cups and cutlery, bottled water and beer, and especially coffee capsules - all causing concerning generation of unnecessary, potentially avoidable waste.

Jan Dube from the Hamburg Department of the Environment and Energy stated for the BBC that the capsules are particularly troublesome as they can't be recycled easily for they are often made of a mixture of plastic and pollutable aluminium. Besides that, one capsule is said to consist of 6 grams of coffee in 3 grams of packaging, so take a minute to consider the insane amounts of waste these pods create.

There are other ways of drinking coffee that don't require Nespresso to have 14,000 capsule collection points in 31 countries.