Coffee roasters ask us this every week. The honest answer is that neither one wins on its own. Compostable packaging works beautifully when your customers actually compost at home or live where industrial composting exists. If they don't, that same bag ends up in a landfill where no light or oxygen reaches it, and the breakdown process stalls. Recyclable packaging takes a different route. It only works when the film is mono-material, because standard recycling facilities reject multi-layer laminates. Most pouches labelled "recyclable" on the market fail this test. Ours are built for the real waste stream, not the theoretical one. PCR sits between the two. You keep conventional barrier performance and shelf life, but the film comes from plastic that already existed. The right choice depends on who buys your coffee, where they live, and what claim you want on the back of your bag. We've helped roasters in three continents figure this out, and we'll help you before you commit to a full order.