Coffee machine recycling scheme hits UK
Wednesday, May 3, 2017 - 13:29:56
The Nespresso coffee system, owned by Nestle, has faced criticism from environmental campaigners as a result of the fact that the single use pods which store the ground beans used by the machines create a mountain of waste.
Now the firm has reacted to negative press surrounding this state of affairs by launching a trial scheme in London which will provide recycling facilities for the used pods as part of the council’s existing collection service, according to the Guardian.
Unique purple collection bags will be provided to the affluent residents of Kensington and Chelsea, giving Nespresso users the ability to dispose of their pods in a sustainable way, rather than dumping them straight in the bin.
The only downside of this scheme is that Nestle will only accept Nespresso-branded pods, not any of the other aluminium, foil or plastic pods sold by rival coffee machine firms.
One of the problems with processing these pods, irrespective of the materials from which they are fashioned, is that the ground beans remain contained within them after use. This increases the labour intensiveness of recycling and has so far prevented companies like Nestle from providing collection opportunities.
Last year around £182 million was spent by British consumers to buy Nespresso-style coffee pods, with continued growth projected in this market. This means the problem of recycling the waste they generate will only continue to grow unless schemes like this are expanded.
The small scale trial in the UK capital will last for six months, after which point it could be rolled out further afield, presumably on a council by council basis. This would also require Nespresso to expand its recycling facilities to cope with the influx in collected pods which would inevitably arise if a national launch is pursued.
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