The K-cup coffee pods discarded in 2013 would have encircled the globe 10 times. Coffee pod sales have more than tripled in the last three years. Nespresso published a corporate backgrounder in March 2011 stating that 12,300 cups of Nespresso were consumed every minute. That works out to 6.469 billion per year – three years ago. The current amount is unknown. The company stopped reporting sales after 2011 [Bloomberg].
...So, the success of coffee capsules is a problem for the environment.
But now a company called TerraCycle that makes consumer products from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste is helping Nescafe clean up its act. The organisation began in the US in 2001 and is the world’s champion in developing solutions for recycling 'unrecyclable' items. So far, it has kept more than 2.6 billion pieces of waste from landfills around the world. It launched in Australia on Clean Up Australia Day 2014.
Now it is doing its bit for Australia’s waste problems in general and Nescafe’s waste problems in particular.
Dolce Gusto plastic ‘smart capsules’ will now be given a second life through TerraCycle’s recycling program called Brigades. Australians can send their used NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto coffee, tea and milk capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled into new products and materials through Australia Post, at no cost to the consumer.
TerraCycle will collect used NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto capsules sent in from the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Capsules Brigade then recycle them into two streams. As part of the recycling process, organic material such as residual coffee grounds will be separated and sent to an industrial composting facility. The plastic capsules will be melted down and made into new products.
“The commitment of the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto team to providing quality coffee goes hand in hand with our commitment to sustainability. We are pleased to partner with TerraCycle to provide consumers with a free recycling scheme for our single-serve capsules. NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto is the first NESCAFÉ brand to partner with innovative company TerraCycle in New Zealand,” stated Tracy Hardwick, head of NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Australia and New Zealand, for Nestlé Australia.
“The NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Capsule Brigade will salvage single-use capsules otherwise destined for landfill. Brigade participants can send their capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled via New Zealand Post by simply downloading a free shipping label from the TerraCycle website. Participants also have the opportunity to generate two cents per capsule collected to donate to a charity of their choice,” TerraCycle Australia general manager, Anna Minns, explained.
TerraCycle’s Brigade programs like this also aim to build community awareness about sustainability and make people re-think what they do with consumer waste and packaging.
It is also tackling other difficult to recycle waste streams including oral care waste such as used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers with Colgate, cleaning and beauty product packaging with Australian eco-brand Natures Organics, and cigarettes.
