Nespresso UK partners with Royal Mail to recycle coffee capsules

Nespresso United Kingdom has announced a partnership with delivery company Royal Mail that will help improve coffee capsule recycling efforts across the country.

“Nespresso’s official partnership with Royal Mail brings recycling to the heart of the community, no matter where you live in the UK,” says CEO of Nespresso UK and Republic of Ireland Anna Lundstrom.

Nespresso customers now have two new options for recycling their coffee capsules with Royal Mail. They can either arrange a free doorstep collection from their local postal office using the company’s returns service, or they can drop them off at any Royal Mail drop-off location, including Royal Mail customer service points and post offices.

Research commissioned by Nespresso and carried out by One Poll between 4 and 6 October 2023 with 2000 adult respondents claims that, despite 91 per cent of the UK population claiming they often recycle, 42 per cent said they find recycling confusing and 32 per cent said they found it difficult.

“Recycling needs to be convenient, simple, and sustainable and our partnership with Royal Mail is central to achieving that vision,” says Lundstrom.

Over half of Royal Mail’s routes are either wholly or partly on foot, which Nespresso says helps keeps emissions low.

“We’re really pleased to be working with Nespresso to support their coffee capsule recycling,” says Royal Mail Chief Commercial Officer Nick Landon. “Everyone knows when their postie delivers so it’s really convenient to arrange for them to collect at the same time.

Nespresso also co-founded not-for-profit coffee pod recycling service Podback. Nespresso UK customers can still use this service and can drop their used capsules at any Nespresso location.

Nespresso’s capsules are made with 80 per cent recycled aluminium which is recyclable. According to Nespresso, recycled aluminium can be turned into new products such as beverage cans and car components. Used coffee grounds are also used to create soil improver, used on cereal farms in East Yorkshire, and renewable energy to power UK homes.