Nespresso UK&I sustainability lead Mary Child looks at new research on the habits, hurdles and confusion around how to manage recycling in the UK – and shares why the company believes convenience and community are the keys to a future of better recycling.
We’ve all been there, staring at an empty bottle of shampoo, or a piece of broken furniture and wondering how best to recycle it or what bin to place it in. I know I have.
The good news is that the UK is a nation of keen recyclers – 9 in 10 Brits claim they often recycle according to new Nespresso research – but despite this, the UK household recycling rate has stayed at about 45% for the last five years.
How can we explain the difference between these figures? According to our data, about 40% of us say we find recycling confusing, a third would recycle more if it were easier, and one in three of us resort to ‘hope-cycling’ – using the incorrect recycling bin and hoping for the best.
As a responsible business, we want to help de-mystify recycling, to cut through the confusion and make it as straightforward as possible for all. We also know that customers want recycling services to be convenient, simple, and sustainable.
While Nespresso capsules are made of 80% recycled aluminium – an infinitely recyclable material that preserves coffee quality and freshness – most public recycling systems in the UK do not currently recycle small, light packaging like used capsules.
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Yet when we asked what holds Brits back from recycling as much as they would like, the second most popular answer was that the council doesn’t collect certain items from their home (41% agreed). So, household collection is clearly an important barrier to remove if we want to drive up recycling rates.
This is no surprise given leaving out our household waste has become part of our weekly routines. When solutions are based in the community and part of everyday life, they can be convenient, accessible, and most importantly, used by as many people as possible.
One day, British households may be able to leave their coffee capsules out to be collected by the council with other household waste – and Nespresso is supporting this goal through the Podback scheme we co-founded with coffee industry peers in 2021.
Industry-wide solutions are much-needed but alongside collective action, we have an individual responsibility as a business to ensure progress at speed.
We recently announced a game-changing partnership with Royal Mail which we hope will make coffee capsule recycling as easy as returning a parcel. Anyone can book a doorstep collection for their used Nespresso capsules or, if they prefer, can drop them off at one of the UK’s 14,000 Royal Mail locations including Post Offices.
This partnership will increase nationwide access to easy and effective recycling methods for Nespresso capsules, bringing recycling into the heart of communities with trusted, much-loved posties. Royal Mail is not only an iconic British institution but because just over half of its routes are wholly or partly on foot – ‘feet on the street’ posties walk up to a billion steps a day!
It is also recognised as having the lowest emissions per parcel .
Getting your post delivered is a shared nationwide experience; it is part of our everyday lives, whether we live in a village, a town, or a city. Now, so is recycling your used aluminium coffee capsules.
