An inventor has solved the problem of the millions of coffee capsules that are thrown away each year after use - with sugar-coated pods that dissolve in water. The soaring popularity of home coffee machines has led to a increasing amount of waste generated by caffeine lovers. Now, designer Eason Chow believes his innovative new product could be the solution - and found inspiration from the sugar-coated sweets dispensed from gumball machines. It involves covering coffee granules in milk powder then dipping the whole lot in sugar to create a revolutionary capsule with no waste created whatsoever. Taking inspiration from sugar-coated sweets in gumball machines, Eason Chow believes his dissolvable pods solve the problem of the rising waste generated from coffee capsules . Mr Chow, 25, from Singapore, has also made a stackable coffee maker to use the capsules with . Mr Chow says the sugar coating will come in varying thickness and flavourings to suit all tastes - and he has also made a stackable coffee maker to use the capsules with. He came up with the idea after realising how much waste packaging is generated from coffee capsules each year. The product, called Droops, is still in the early stages, but Mr Chow says the coffee pods will cost around £4 for a pack of 20 and the machine will cost around £80. The 25-year-old, from Singapore, said: 'Droops Coffee Maker redefines the experience of processing coffee in conventional coffee makers. 'The inspiration for the project came from the observation of how much unnecessary waste of packaging is made from coffee machines which use capsules. The product, called Droops, is still in the early stages. The pods will cost around £4 for a pack of 20 and the machine will cost around £80 . Mr Chows says he wanted to incorporate an element of surprise and fun in the design. Pictured: Sketches of the Droop in process . 'This led to me thinking of how can the process be redefined and be fun.' He explained he drew 'memories to my childhood' and 'the surprising and fun element of dispensing sweets from a gumball machine'. 'Therefore, I decided to adapt this element of surprise and fun into the design and even personalising the coffee pods with different possibilities to heighten the desire of tasting different coffee types.' He added that most coffee machines on the market are very industrialised and made to process coffee out of convenience. 'They neglect the importance of the visualising and the social responsibility through its usage,' he said. 'Droops coffee maker aims to be a benchmark that identifies and exemplifies the importance of these elements to fun coffee drinking.' The rise of coffee machines for home-use has led to a new waste problem that was virtually non-existent a few years ago thanks to the single-use pods to make beverages. Normally, these pods are made from recyclable materials - such as aluminium or plastic - but they are rarely disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner. According to Zero Waste Europe, an estimated 10 billion coffee capsules were sold worldwide in 2010, a tenth of which was in Italy alone. But in the coffee-loving country, around 12,000 tonnes of pods that could have been recycled were disposed in landfills. As a result of the rising waste problem, Nespresso launched an initiative to encourage customers to recycle their capsules. And Tassimo is aiming to save their TDISCs and outer flow wrap packaging from going to landfill by partnering with TerraCycle. There are 323 public drop-off points in the Tassimo Brigade across the UK - and more than seven million pieces of Tassimo waste have been saved from going to a UK landfill. As an eco-friendly innovator, TerraCycle recycles the collected used Tassimo TDISCs and packaging into useful products. Mr Chow developed the idea after realising how much waste packaging is generated from coffee capsules .
Soaring popularity of home coffee machines has led to increasing waste . Eason Chow believes his innovative new product could be the solution . Pods are made of coffee granules in milk powder are then dipped in sugar . Price will be around £4 for a pack of 20 and a machine will cost around £80 .