County Durham Council in England has launched new recycling points for coffee machine pods at four locations in the county as part of its ongoing trial. 

The council is now offering coffee pod recycling bins at the Horden, Potterhouse Lane, Stainton Grove, and Tudhoe household waste recycling centres. 

The scheme was launched together with Podback and HW Martin, the latter of which manages the centres. 

County Durham Council neighbourhoods and climate change cabinet member and councillor Mark Wilkes said: "Traditionally, coffee pods have been hard to recycle but through this trial scheme we're providing facilities at four locations where people can drop off both aluminium and plastic pods. 

"You don't need to empty out the coffee but there are separate containers for aluminium pods and plastic pods, just make sure they go into the correct bin on site. 

"Podback recycles the pods here in the UK by shredding them, removing any coffee, and then reprocessing the empty pods for use in the manufacture of new products. Coffee grounds are processed to create soil improver and biogas, which is a renewable energy." 

This local effort forms part of a larger movement, with FCC Environment and Podback partnering to increase coffee pod recycling in more sites across England and Wales.  

The announcement comes after a successful pilot of coffee pod recycling at 11 FCC household waste recycling centres sites in Suffolk and Berkshire.