Nespresso and Royal Mail coffee capsule recycling partnership

Nespresso UK has announced a partnership with Royal Mail that will transform coffee capsule recycling for households across the country. It means that responsible coffee drinkers can avoid chucking their pods into a bin that eventually ends up as landfill.

Nespresso customers now have two new options for recycling their coffee capsules with the UK’s most trusted delivery company. They can arrange a free doorstep collection from their local postie using Royal Mail’s returns service. Alternatively, they can drop them off at any of the 14,000+ Royal Mail drop-off locations, including Royal Mail Customer Service Points and Post Offices.

Research commissioned by Nespresso to mark Recycle Week demonstrates just how important it is for recycling to be simple and convenient: despite 91% of Brits claiming they often recycle, many said they find recycling confusing (42%), and difficult (32%).

This partnership will increase nationwide access to easy and effective recycling methods for Nespresso capsules. Just over half of Royal Mails’ routes are wholly or partly on foot which helps to keep emissions low when compared to other carriers.

Nespresso’s official partnership with Royal Mail brings recycling to the heart of the community, no matter where you live in the UK. Royal Mail is not only an iconic British institution, it also is recognised as having the lowest emissions per parcel as their ‘feet on the street’ posties walk up to a billion steps a day. Recycling needs to be convenient, simple, and sustainable – and our partnership with Royal Mail is central to achieving that vision.

– Anna Lundstrom, CEO, Nespresso UK & ROI

We’re really pleased to be working with Nespresso to support their coffee capsule recycling. Everyone knows when their postie delivers so it’s really convenient to arrange for them to collect at the same time. If customers aren’t going to be in, Royal Mail can also collect from a safe place. To make it even more convenient, if customers don’t have a printer our posties can print and bring the label to the doorstep.

And if Nespresso customers don’t want to arrange a collection, they can drop their capsules off at one of our 14,000+ Royal Mail locations. This is part of our commitment to continuously make our services more convenient as we re-invent the way we deliver to and collect from our customers.

– Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer, Royal Mail

A pioneer of coffee capsule recycling, Nespresso also co-founded not-for-profit coffee pod recycling service Podback. Nespresso UK customers can still use this service and can still drop their used capsules at any Nespresso Boutique.

Nespresso’s capsules are made with 80% recycled aluminium which is infinitely recyclable. Recycled aluminium is 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.