Coffee capsules make sense and have a lot of benefits. But their recycling is zero. Finally, at least Prague has a central collection
Environmentalists’ fight against capsule coffee is understandable. The packaging of 250 g of coffee beans contains much less packaging material than the same weight of capsule coffee. However, capsule coffee itself is not such a problem and we do not consider it meaningful to try to ban it. It has a lot of benefits that you add to reducing wasted coffee beans. It is essential that major brands implement recycling programs, but not only that. Capsule take-back must be centrally controlled. The first swallow is Prague.
Capsule coffee has won tens of millions of people around the world. The reason is user comfort, the possibility to change the types of coffee between individual cups, which is not possible with an automatic coffee machine with a grain hopper, and the long shelf life of the capsules. The 100 aluminum ones are treated as the best, because, unlike the plastic variant, absolutely no light penetrates the coffee. As a result, the coffee in the capsule maintains the same freshness that we are used to when we grind roasted coffee at home. The capsule coffee machine can also appeal to those who do not drink coffee so often and the beans would be in their automatic coffee machine for too long, or the owner of cottages and chalets where they go on weekends. If they leave the capsules in place over the winter, they can use them in the spring and the coffee will still be in perfect quality.
The only brand with a recycling program is Nespresso
The capsule coffee specialist started its recycling activity several years ago – the capsules can be handed over to the driver when new coffee is delivered or at any Nespresso store. The processing of these capsules makes sense because they are made exclusively of aluminum, which can be recycled indefinitely. Unfortunately, most other brands do not only use aluminum, some capsules are even glued from several materials and it is basically impossible to recycle them. In this regard, there is crucial pressure from the public and the media for these companies to change their capsules. And then we have plastic capsules on the market; these are used, for example, by the Dolce Gusto brand, which already has recycling programs in some markets, but not in our country. Of course, you don’t have to throw these capsules in the waste mixture – you can cut them up and empty them. You use the coffee grounds as a fertilizer or throw them in the mixed waste (ideally in biowaste) and you can then put the empty plastic container in a yellow container. However, we are not naive, most people will not do this, of course, so it is important that the recycling of all capsules is finally dealt with in a comprehensive way. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case.
Nespresso has been processing its aluminum capsules for several years. During the recycling process, coffee grounds are separated from aluminum. Sediment is used as a fertilizer, while aluminum can be reprocessed and used. As the market leader in quality capsule coffee, Nespresso not only recycles its brand packaging, but also processes all the aluminum capsules that are delivered to it.
In Prague, you can throw aluminum capsules into metal packaging containers
A promising novelty is this year’s agreement between Prague and the Nespresso brand on the recycling of its capsules, which can be disposed of in metal packaging containers. The collection only applies to aluminum capsules, and it does not have to be the original Nespresso, so you can add other brands here as well. You must not throw capsules made of combined materials or plastic ones here. If you do so, it will end up in an incinerator or warehouse. In any case, this is another important step towards getting rid of capsule coffee with a “non-organic” label.
The recycling of the capsules itself is also ensured in this case directly by Nespresso, which also takes on the processing of capsules of other brands and it is more about its activity than about any initiative of the city. Capsule coffee would only deserve a local city or state solution. A Europe-wide directive would be ideal to set the rules for capsule coffee in a similar way to the rules for household appliance manufacturers under the so-called ecodesign regulation.
You can now also throw aluminum coffee capsules in metal packaging containers in Prague. Do not throw capsules made of other materials here – such as Dolce Gusto or Tassimo. These capsules are made of plastic. If you want to recycle them, you have to cut them yourself, dump the coffee grounds and throw the plastic wrap in a yellow container.
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