Nespresso invites portioned coffee manufacturers to join its aluminium capsule recycling scheme

Nespresso on Friday, March 29, reportedly issued an invitation urging portioned coffee manufacturers to join its recycling programme that aims to improve the accessibility and convenience of aluminium capsule recycling. This move was endorsed by the Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board (NSAB) during its annual meeting at Geneva.

Jean-Marc Duvoisin, CEO of Nespresso, said, "Aluminium is a valuable material and is infinitely recyclable. We have built a global scheme for recycling our capsules, and by inviting other companies to join our system, we hope to offer a solution for the whole category. This decision is aligned with our global initiatives to shape a waste-free future and drive behaviour change towards a circular economy."

The public recycling infrastructure in most countries usually fails to process small items such as coffee capsules. So, Nespresso 28 years ago had set up dedicated schemes for recycling those items. Today, it is the most advanced in the industry, covering 53 countries with more than 100,000 drop off points.

According to Daniel Katz, NSAB member and Chairman of the Board of the Rainforest Alliance, Nespresso’s capsule recycling schemes have huge potential to bring in significant positive changes on one of the key issues that the portioned coffee industry faces, capsules in particular.

“Nespresso has worked with the Rainforest Alliance for 16 years on sustainably sourced coffee, and it is inspiring to see the company take ownership of aluminium recycling, helping lead the way and engage competitors, and driving towards a potential global solution to coffee capsule recycling," said Mr. Katz.

The aluminium from recycled Nespresso capsules is widely used in making car engines, computers, cans, and even new coffee capsules.