Nespresso wins award for packaging recycling project

Nespresso France has won Best Environmental Initiative in Trophées Défis RSE 2015 for supporting innovation in recycling technology and developing partnerships to improve the recycling of aluminium coffee capsules and other small-sized metal packages, Nestlé said on its website.

Although aluminium is 100 per cent recyclable, only 32 per cent of household aluminium packaging is recycled in France.

Due to packaging sorting centres not having suitable equipment, it is most often unable to process small packaging under seven centimetres.

Nespresso co-founded CELAA, the Club for Aluminium and Steel Light Packaging (Club du Recyclage des Emballages Légers en Aluminium et Acier) in 2009. Its mission is to increase recycling capabilities for small-scale aluminium and steel packaging, such as Nespresso capsules, bottle caps and aluminium foil.

These initiatives are part of Nespresso’s new sustainability strategy, The Positive Cup, where it is expanding its capacity to collect all used aluminium capsules wherever it does business.

Nespresso has installed more than 14,000 capsule collection points across 31 countries, and a home collection service is available in 15 markets, Nestlé said.