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Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs An Roinn Talmhaíochta, Comhshaoil agus Gnóthaí Tuaithe Depairtment o' Fairmin, Environment an' Kintra Matthers

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  • Coffee Pods

    Topics:
    • Resource & Waste Policy, 
    • Extended Producer Responsibility

    Every day, an estimated 98 million cups of coffee are consumed across the UK, with single-use coffee pods becoming an incraesingly popular way to make a cup. In fact, around a third of adults in the UK have a coffee pod machine in their home.

    However, because of thier size, weight and the coffee contained within them, the pods and capsules are not suited to conventional recycling collection and sorting facilities. This means that, for now, they require seperate collection for recycling.

    Some of the main producers of coffee pods have set up a voluntary producer responsibility scheme, called podback.

    Podback is an end-to-end recycling programme, created in partnership with the leading names in coffee pod systems including Nespresso, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto and Tassimo.

    Podback collects and recycles plastic and aluminium beverage pods sold by their member brands, including coffee, tea, milk and hot choclolate pods.

    To recycle your pods, you can order Podback recycling bags for free delivery to your house. Once a bag is full of used pods, you can drop it off at your nearest participating Yodel Store location.

    For more information, or to find out which service is avaliable in your area, visit the Podback website.

    Watch this video to follow the recycling journey of your coffee pods: Podback: How your coffee pods are recycled

    Related to Coffee Pods

    Access to information

    How to request information from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs including Freedom of Information (FOI), Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) and the use of our Publication Scheme.

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