Nespresso seeks Big Apple recycling path

Portioned coffee maker Nespresso, the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR) have announced that Nespresso has made a $1.2 million commitment designed to better enable the recovery of its aluminum coffee capsules through New York City's curbside recycling program.

The funding also is being targeted to allow SMR to better sort and capture lightweight aluminum, including foil and other mixed metals, according to the three organizations.

“Sims Municipal Recycling’s role is to take the household recyclables that DSNY collects from New Yorkers and convert them into commodities or raw materials for manufacturers,” says Thomas Outerbridge, general manager of SMR. “Nespresso has been extremely proactive in working with us to find an effective solution that is convenient for customers and that will allow us to direct the aluminum into productive reuse.”

The DSNY says a key component of the partnership will be to encourage New York City residents to recycle Nespresso capsules as well as some 43,000 tons of aluminum foil and other mixed metals that currently end up in landfills each year.

Steven Costas, acting commissioner at DSNY, comments, “New York City works to have as inclusive a recycling program as possible, and the New York City Department of Sanitation supports industry efforts to maximize recovery of recyclable items. We want to recycle all of your aluminum items, not just soda cans.”

Guillaume Le Cunff, president and CEO of Nespresso USA, says, “Nespresso is deeply committed to the circular use of our products, choosing aluminum packaging because it both protects the quality of our exceptional coffees and can be recycled and reused again and again. This collaboration will provide New York City-based consumers with another convenient way to recycle used capsules and other aluminum products at home, allowing these items to be given many new lives.”

The funding from Nespresso will help SMR investing in additional technology required to improve the efficiency of its non-magnetic household metals recycling process, according to the companies. The equipment will be operational starting fall 2019, and residents in all five boroughs of New York City will be encouraged to recycle their Nespresso capsules as part of their regular recycling routine.

Le Cunff adds, “This is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can collaborate to develop solutions that have broad environmental impact and create shared value. New Yorkers are familiar with recycling aluminum cans, and we want to encourage people to also recycle a wider array of aluminum products that they use on a regular basis.”

A Nespresso recycling program with UPS will continue to be available in the United States, says the firm. Consumers can bring recycling bags to one of 88,000 UPS drop-off locations or 500 collection points at Nespresso Boutiques.

Once those capsules are collected, they are sent to recycling firms that separate the aluminum from the coffee grounds. The coffee grounds can be turned into compost and topsoil while the aluminum is processed and recycled.