Are Nespresso coffee capsules recyclable?

Yes, Nespresso coffee capsules are made from aluminium – the best material to protect the freshness and quality of our coffees. Aluminium as a material can be repeatedly recycled without losing its properties. The used coffee grounds inside our capsules can also go on to a second life.

How can Nespresso customers recycle their capsules?

There are currently four ways to recycle your used Nespresso aluminium coffee capsules in Australia: Return your used aluminium capsules to a Nespresso Boutique. Drop them off at a participating collection point. Post your used capsules back to Nespresso using a special Australia Post satchel. Participate in one of our bulk recycling collection initiatives where workplaces or community locations can become a recycling point.

Are your capsules made from recycled aluminium?

All our Original capsules are currently made from 80% recycled aluminium and most of our Vertuo capsules are made using 85% recycling aluminium.

Why aren’t your capsules made from 100% recycled aluminium?

There are two reasons: (1) the capsule manufacturer must use some virgin aluminium to fine-tune the alloy to get the right properties; and (2) the membrane is still made from virgin aluminium.

Do you recycle non- Nespresso capsules?

Our recycling service is designed to cater for Nespresso customers, so our facility can process all aluminium capsules. We’ve been doing trials as part of the product stewardship to cater to different types of capsules but it is not yet ready.

What do I get for recycling?

We believe that customers understand and appreciate the impact that recycling can have on improving the environmental performance of a cup of Nespresso coffee and in itself this provides a strong incentive to recycle used capsules.

Image of Nespresso coffee machine and accessories on a wooden table

Here's how you can
recycle your coffee capsules

Q: What happens to your capsules when they’re recycled?

Aluminium coffee capsules that are recycled with Nespresso are sent to a specialist recycling plant based in NSW. There, the aluminium is separated from the residual coffee. The coffee is sent to a local facility to be processed into compost and used in soil for landscaping, while the aluminium is recycled and sent back to the aluminium industry to produce new aluminium products.

By giving your Nespresso coffee capsules a second life, your Nespresso coffee won't just taste good, it will feel good too.

We've extended our coffee capsule recycling program over the last decade to make it easier for you to recycle with us. There are now four ways for you to get involved:

1. Return your Capsules to a Nespresso Boutique

All our boutiques offer a free recycling service. Simply collect a free recycling bag from our boutique, fill it to the line, and drop it in the box during your visit.

Find a Nespresso Boutique

2. Visit a Participating Collection Point

Many businesses, community groups and local councils take part in our recycling program, with collection points on their premises for you to access and use for free.

Find your Nearest Collection Point

3. Collect in Bulk for your Workplace or Community

Your workplace, community group or residential complex can join our bulk recycling program for free as a private or public point, to collect and return coffee capsules for you and your community.

Explore our Bulk Recycling Program

4. Post your Capsules to Us

To ensure all customers have the option to conveniently recycle with us across the country, Nespresso has specially-designed, subsidised Australia Post Recycling Satchels available to order online.

Order a Subsidised Post Satchel

Follow the journey your coffee capsules take when you recycle with us.

Delivering premium coffee, cup after cup, comes with accountability. To you, naturally, and to the world we live in. That's why Nespresso is committed to doing business responsibly. Looking for ways to make a difference wherever we can.

Coffee Quality

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Recyclability

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Second Life

Beyond its ability to deliver your premium coffee, we selected aluminium for other reasons. Aluminum is not just...
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Inspiring Sustainable Consumption

At Nespresso, we seek ways to make a difference anywhere we can. This is why we are committed to doing business responsibly. It means ensuring the sustainability of your coffee through a comprehensive program, with observable results. Because sustainability justifies the means.

"The sustainability program with Nespresso is surpassed by no one... they have set this up so that if you are responsible and you want to participate in true recycling: it is very easy to do."

— Interview on Sustainability with George Clooney

Fertilizer | Energy

Once separated from the aluminium, coffee grounds from your used Nespresso capsules can be reused in innovative ways. When you recycle with us in Australia, your recycled Nespresso coffee grounds are processed into compost and used in soil mix for landscaping.

Overseas, coffee grounds are also being transformed into renewable energy, like biofuel.

The last drop doesn't mean the last use for aluminium

Aluminium as a material can be repeatedly recycled without losing its properties. In Australia, recycled aluminium from our capsules is returned to the aluminium industry to make new products.

To inspire people around the possibilities of recycled aluminium, Nespresso has also come together with partners around the world to create limited edition everyday items using recycled aluminium from Nespresso capsules collected overseas. These include Velosophy bicycles, Victorinox Swiss army knives, Zena vegetable peelers and even designer Hublot watches.

FAQs

There are currently four ways to recycle your used Nespresso aluminium coffee capsules in Australia:

Return your used aluminium capsules to a Nespresso Boutique.
Drop them off at a participating collection point.
Post your used capsules back to Nespresso using a special Australia Post satchel.
Participate in one of our bulk recycling collection initiatives where workplaces or community locations can become a recycling point.

Aluminium coffee capsules that are recycled with Nespresso are sent to a specialist recycling plant based in NSW. There, the aluminium is separated from the residual coffee. The coffee is sent to a local facility to be processed into compost and used in soil for landscaping, while the aluminium is recycled and sent back to the aluminium industry to produce new aluminium products.

We use aluminium because it is the best material to protect the freshness, taste and quality of Nespresso coffee. Aluminium as a material can be repeatedly recycled without losing its properties and recycled aluminium is exceptionally versatile. Creating new material from recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than being extracted from raw material. Thanks to the aluminium, there is no need for additional over-packaging to protect freshness and taste. An estimated 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today. Aluminium is used in a wide range of products, from food packaging and cars, to computers, window frames and bicycles.

Plastic capsules generally need more packaging, such as an additional wrapper to preserve freshness. Ironically, this is often made of aluminium. Aluminium as a material can be repeatedly recycled without losing its properties. It is more sustainable material for our capsules as it reduces the need for extra packaging and is the best material to protect the freshness and quality of our coffee. Recycling plastic capsules is also complex than those made from aluminium.

At the moment, aluminium remains the best material for us to maintain the quality of our coffee during the production, transport and storage stages of our supply chain. It is also the only food safe material which can also be repeatedly recycled without losing its properties when returned to our capsule recycling scheme. Our commitment to innovation means we are always looking for more sustainable options and we will continue to test and research designs and materials.

We use a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to measure the environmental impact of our products. It shows that the greatest impacts are the processes of coffee farming, followed by the machine-use phase. Packaging is not the main driver of the environmental impact, it comes third. With the Nespresso precision consumption system, our customers only use the exact amount of water, coffee and energy needed to make one cup with no wasted resources - minimising food, water and energy waste. The precise use of resources in a precision consumption system can actually reduce waste, and in many scenarios this more than compensates for the additional packaging used for portioned coffee.

We offer a free of charge collection service to our larger customers for their used Nespresso capsules. Upon request, we will send a bulk recycling kit which contains three boxes that can hold in excess of 1,500 used aluminium capsules each (both Professional & in-home Nespresso capsules). As both Nespresso capsules are recyclable, we also encourage businesses to collect the used Nespresso aluminium capsules that employees can bring in from home, making it even easier to participate in recycling.

Find out more about Nespresso Bulk Recycling.

More on Recycling & Sustainability

Five Ways to Improve Your Recycling Routine

Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for you to get involved. Whichever way you choose to recycle with us, we hope you'll find these simple and practical tips useful.

Joining Forces to Accelerate Recycling: Q&A with Lottie Dalziel

Introducing Lottie Dalziel, our new sustainability partner. Lottie is the NSW Young Australian of the Year and the founder of Banish and BRAD. Discover how we are teaming up to accelerate recycling.

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All Nespresso coffee lovers, particularly those living in remote areas, can benefit from the rise in public bulk recycling collection points.

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Here's how you can
recycle your coffee capsules