Established by Nestle and Jacob Douwe Egberts UK, Podback provides “simple and easy ways” to recycle pods of participating brands, such as Nespresso, Nescafe Dolce Gusto and Tassimo.
From 9 August, Oxford residents will be able to recycle plastic and aluminium coffee pods using free collection bags provided by Podback.
For those residents who cannot access a kerbside service, a Collect+ service is available, allowing consumers to drop off filled bags at a Collect+ store.
Councillor Lubna Arshad, Oxford’s cabinet member for parks and waste reduction, said: “With more people working from home and drinking coffee, the expansion of the recycling service to collect coffee pods couldn’t come at a better time.
“Our residents want to do the right thing for the environment and recycle as much as possible. The coffee pods will be collected every week for recycling using both our household recycling and waste vehicles.”
Councils
Oxford joins Cheltenham borough council and South Derbyshire district council in having a kerbside collection for coffee pods, while Chichester district council is currently trialling the scheme.
Last month, Podback said at least four other authorities were set to join “by the end of the summer” and even more were to do so “by the autumn” (see letsrecycle.com story).
Coffee pods
According to Oxford city council, recent research showed that more than a third (35%) of coffee pod drinkers are unaware that pods can be recycled, while 90% state that they would like to be able to recycle their coffee pods through their usual household recycling.
Podback announced the former executive director of the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), Rick Hindley, as its own first executive director in May 2021 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Hindley said: “We want people to enjoy the quality and taste of coffee and have easy ways to recycle their pods. Consumers can already access local Collect+ stores of which there are more than 6,500 in the UK, to drop off empty coffee pods.
“However, this new collaboration with Oxford Direct Services and Oxford city council, to introduce coffee pod collections through the existing kerbside recycling services, will make it even easier for consumers to participate at home whilst helping the council increase the amount it recycles.”
Recycling
The council is to send an information leaflet through Oxford residents’ doors in August asking them to register for the new service based on the types of coffee pods they use.
Once registered, residents will be sent a roll of recycling bags and can start using them immediately. They will be able to putting the bags out for kerbside collection on top of their blue recycling or green waste bin lid on their normal collection day.
Podback then sends the coffee grounds it collects to anaerobic digestion to produce a combination of biogas and soil improver.
Aluminium is processed by Tandom Metallurgical Group Ltd in Congleton, near Stoke-on-Trent. Plastic pods are reprocessed by Roydon in Swinton, near Manchester.
Oxford
Representing an estimated population of more than 150,000, Oxford city council had a household waste recycling rate of 52.6% in the 2019/20 financial year.
In-house Oxford Direct Services (ODS) manages waste collection for the council and local businesses.
The council said working with Podback would reduce residual waste and increase Oxfordshire’s recycling rate as a county to 65%.
Subscribe for free