Podback was formed in November 2020 by Nestle and Jacobs Douwe Egberts UK, who both own a number of coffee pod brands in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story). It went live in April 2021.
This month, Podback welcomed two new local authorities to its initiative. Notably, on 23 October, the London Borough of Havering has became the latest partner, making it the second London-based authority to provide residents with a kerbside recycling service for coffee pods.
Podback also expanded its reach into Scotland earlier this month, establishing a partnership with East Ayrshire, the initiative’s first local authority partner in the region. According to Podback the introduction of the scheme has been met with “great enthusiasm” from the local community, with over 1,200 households registering for kerbside collections in the first two weeks.
‘Significant progress’
Rick Hindley, the executive director of Podback said: “In a little over two years since Podback’s launch, we have made significant progress in our journey to ensure that every coffee pod enjoyed is recycled. This month marks another exciting milestone, with over 1 million households across the UK now able to use our kerbside service.”
Podback has also announced its plans to launch three additional local authority partnerships before the end of November. It hopes that by the close of 2023, over 1.3 million households will have access to its service.
Scheme
When it was established, Cheltenham borough council and South Derbyshire district council were among the first to join the scheme, offering kerbside coffee pod collection to their residents.
Karen Watson from Cheltenham borough council said: “We are proud to have been one of the first local authorities to partner with Podback back in April 2021. Our residents have loved how easy it is for them to recycle their coffee pods alongside their everyday household recycling, and our elected members have also been impressed by the service.”
The initiative has partnerships with more than 20 coffee brands, including names such as Nespresso, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto, Tassimo, L’OR, and Aldi.
Process
After collection, coffee pod materials will be separated from the used coffee grounds. The plastic and aluminium pods will be processed separately in the UK, Podback says, with plastic pods producing “high grade plastic pellets which will be used by manufacturers to produce high grade plastic items”, while the aluminium ingots can create beverage cans, car spare parts and “other everyday objects”.
The coffee grounds will go through anaerobic digestion producing a combination of biogas and soil improver.
Aluminium is processed by Tandom Metallurgical Group Ltd in Congleton, near Stoke-on-Trent. Plastic pods is reprocessed by Bright Green Plastics in West Yorkshire.
Subscribe for free