Don't bin them: You can mail back your used Nespresso coffee pods
It's well noted that single-use coffee pods are bad for the environment, and the unwaning popularity of Nespresso (damn you, George Clooney) isn't helping.
So it's a wise move for the caffeine purveyors to launch mail-able recycling satchels Down Under in partnership with Australia Post. All you'll need to do is pop your used pods in the satchel, put it in a mailbox or drop it off at a post office, and it'll be sent off for recycling.
Each satchel holds up to 130 capsules, and costs A$1.90 each from (surprise) Nespresso's online store or its retail boutiques. The cost of postage is paid for by Nespresso, no matter where the sender is in Australia.
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The satchels make it undoubtedly more convenient for some people who can't be bothered with recycling points, or are located too far from one. Nespresso run a similar program in the U.S., where customers can drop their capsules off at a UPS for no charge.
If you're wondering why you can't throw coffee pods in the bin, it's because they can be too small for most recycling services to process. Which means pods often end up in landfill.
According to the company, the returned capsules are sent to a specialist recycling plant where the aluminium capsule is split from the used coffee grounds inside. The aluminium is sent for reuse, while the coffee grounds are used for compost.
"Unlike most other portioned coffee products, our coffee capsules are made from aluminium, a material that is infinitely recyclable," Loïc Réthoré, General Manager of Nespresso Australia and Oceania, said in a statement.
"The challenge we face is that there are some products that Australia's kerbside recycling collection systems cannot accept, which is why since 2010 we have operated a dedicated recycling program."
It's still debatable whether these efforts will be enough to stem the problem of pods ending up in landfill, and other companies have swooped in to take advantage.
It's still debatable whether these efforts will be enough to stem the problem of pods ending up in landfill, and other companies have swooped in to take advantage.
Nespresso's former chief executive, Jean-Paul Gaillard, has created his own company, which sells a biodegradable coffee pod that breaks down in eight months.
"This capsule doesn't contain one single molecule of petrochemical origin element. It is very difficult, a bit more expensive," he told ABC News. "It was a tough challenge and I'll say we are slowly winning the war at this stage. This is the future. The planet is not ours. It will be for our kids."
Oxfam Australia also responded to the Nespresso's recycling program, calling on customers to be wary and promoted its own coffee pod which is made out of biodegradable plastic.
"We encourage consumers to think about the excessive cost and negative environmental impacts of buying aluminium coffee pods which cannot be recycled using a curb-side recycling program but need to be recycled via post," Oxfam Australia General Manager Julia Sumner said in a statement.
Topics Sustainability
