Coffee capsules are too small to be recycled through household collections, so we have developed our own returns scheme to make sure these are recycled appropriately.
We chose aluminium for our capsules because it delivers the best flavour whilst providing an incredible barrier against moisture and oxygen, keeping our coffee fresh. It’s also one of the most recyclable materials on the planet.
It’s easy to recycle Allpress capsules. You can accumulate them, then drop them off at any of our flagship locations globally. Or take part in one of our local return schemes outlined below.
New Zealand
Our New Zealand customers have two options to ensure their used capsules are recycled:
Purchase a Prepaid Returns bag with your online order, fill it with your used capsules and send it back to us where will recycle appropriately. Each bag will come with instructions on how to arrange collection with your courier driver. Rural addresses are excluded from this prepaid option.
If you live at a rural address or want to arrange your own returns, package your used capsules up and send them to our partners at Ecostock:
43C HOBILL AVENUE
WIRI
AUCKLAND
2104
Once your capsules are with Ecostock, they're shredded to separate the coffee grounds from the aluminium. The aluminium is diverted to metal recyclers to be made into new recycled products, and the spent coffee grounds are utilised in Ecogas to generate biofuel.
Australia
Together with Planet Ark, we’re part-funding a new capsule recycling trial in Australia for all aluminium and plastic coffee capsules.
Launching in February 2024 for four months, trial collection points will be available at our Collingwood and Zetland roastery cafés – you’ll see the Podcycle boxes and signage by Planet Ark. The Podcycle scheme will help to reduce waste, recycle more, and save resources from going to landfill.
From our collection partners at Remondis:
"All pods will be collected and consolidated off-site, before being transported to the REMONDIS Tomago Resource Recovery Facility for post-consumer coffee pod recycling. Using a Turbo Separator de-packaging line, spent coffee grounds are removed from the pods to be processed into compost. The aluminium and plastic is captured and returned to the circular economy as a valuable recovered resource."
United Kingdom
As well as continuing to accept capsule returns in any of our UK Roastery Cafes (Dalston Roastery cafe and Redchurch St Espresso Bar), our UK team are excited to announce a new partnership with the team at Podback - a company founded to create easier recycling solutions for Capsule users.
1. Add a Podback Used Capsule Returns bag to your next order, or buy it as a stand-alone purchase through our UK online store.
2.Once your bag is full, visit the Podback website for the best way to return used capsules for your location. This will either be a curb-side collection, or dropping your bag off at any participating Collect+ location nation-wide.
Your used capsules are then sent directly to Podback's partner aluminium processor Tandom, in Cheshire. The capsules are shredded, allowing the aluminium to be separated from the coffee and recycled infinitely into other aluminium products.
Singapore
In Singapore, our coffee capsules can be recycled by returning them to us at our Singapore hub.
When buying capsules on our online store opt to receive a prepaid returns label with your order, fill a watertight bag with your used capsules (approx 120 capsules) and drop them at your local post office to send back to us.
*Please note, returns labels are eligible for one month after they are printed so it is best to collect your capsules and order a returns label with your second order to send us your used capsules once new ones arrive.
Once your used capsules are returned we collect them in a Zero Waste Box™ and ship them to TerraCycle® where they are shredded to separate the coffee ground from the aluminium. The aluminium is then melted down to be remoulded into new recycled products, and the spent coffee grounds are composted.
