Australian recyclers will partner with two councils to facilitate a trial to recycle aluminium coffee capsules, which will help inform the
development of a national coffee capsule recycling scheme, led by Planet Ark.
A specially designed, bring orange bag will be sent to the 5,000 participating households in the trial areas to collect used aluminium capsules. The participants can then place the orange bags in their kerbside recycling bins for collection.
This Australian-first pilot will provide vital insights, with the potential to roll out the scheme across the country.
The capsules will be separated from other recycling at iQ Renew’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and transferred to the existing Nespresso recycling system in NSW for separating into coffee grounds and aluminium. From here, the aluminium will go to aluminium producers, saving 95 per cent of the energy required to source aluminium from scratch, with coffee grounds going to local commercial compost.
Funding for the trial will be provided by Nespresso. Having developed similar recycling schemes overseas, Nespresso has found that convenience is king when it comes to the success of recycling.
“We need to make it as easy as possible for people to get their used capsules recycled and we know kerbside recycling is the easiest path,” Nespresso general manager Jean-Marc Dragoli said.
“We hope that this increases the amount of capsules we can collect and process for a better future.”
Read more: https://foodmag.com.au/kerbside-recycling-pilot-aluminium-coffee-capsules-launched-sydney/
