Ex‑SpaceX engineer unveils an $80 plastic‑free coffeemaker as microplastic health risks rise

A former SpaceX engineer walked away from rockets to chase something far more impactful: a perfect coffeemaker. 

JC Foster left the aerospace giant to launch Puresteel, a startup building what he described as “an affordable, convenient, plastic-free coffeemaker,” he wrote in a post on X. 

For Foster, developing Puresteel was about more than a perfectly brewed cup of coffee at a precise 200°F. “Creating Puresteel was about solving a problem that hits close to home and helping humans thrive,” he wrote in the company’s Note from the Founder. 

The problem, as he saw it, was plastic.

Foster began searching for a completely plastic-free coffee machine and quickly discovered the category didn’t quite exist. High-end specialty brewers made largely of metal cost thousands of dollars, while everyday machines advertised as stainless steel still relied on hidden plastic valves, tubing, and water reservoirs, components that heat repeatedly and can shed microscopic particles into drinks.

So he decided to build the product he couldn’t buy.

Puresteel’s machine uses medical-grade stainless steel and glass instead of polymer components. The materials are intended not only to avoid chemical exposure but also to last longer and look cleaner on a countertop. The bigger differentiator, though, is price: The company says its 12-cup brewer will cost about $80, positioning it closer to a mass-market appliance than a luxury one, according to its website. 

Foster’s motivation extended beyond taste. Research has increasingly focused on the dangers of widespread plastic exposure. 

A University of New Mexico study detected microplastics in every human placenta sample tested, while separate cardiovascular research published in The New England Journal of Medicine associated higher microplastic levels in arterial plaque with significantly elevated risks of heart attack or stroke. Another paper in Food Chemistry found rising concentrations of plastic particles in brain tissue over time, with levels spiking 50 percent since 2016.

For Foster, those findings reframed the morning ritual. Coffeemakers heat water daily, often through plastic pathways, an interaction repeated thousands of times over a lifetime. 

Puresteel is betting that consumers may start treating kitchen appliances the way they treat food labels, paying attention not just to flavor or design but to what their tools are made of, too. 

—Leila Sheridan

This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com. 

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