British chain Costa Coffee has teamed up with Podback to launch a coffee pod recycling trial in the UK.
The partners will be offering a coffee pod recycling service in 142 Costa stores across the country.
The trial allows customers to obtain Podback recycling bags for free at the store and return them when full for collection and recycling.
These Podback bags are available at baristas in all 133 Costa stores located within Tesco stores across the UK, and nine Costa stores in the Swindon area.
Podback-branded recycling points have also been installed in the participating Tesco stores to further facilitate the recycling process.
The scheme is inclusive, accepting both plastic and aluminium pods from any Podback member brands, including Costa pods compatible with Nespresso, Tassimo, and NESCAFE Dolce Gusto machines.
The rollout of the new recycling points, which began in August this year, builds on Costa's existing in-house pod recycling scheme.
Costa and Podback aim to collect more pods for recycling through specialist facilities, where the materials can be separated and recycled.
This initiative is part of Costa's ongoing efforts to provide convenient recycling options for packaging items that are difficult to recycle at home.
In 2018, the company joined forces with Valpak to establish the UK’s National Cup Recycling Scheme.
Costa sustainability head Liz Higgins said: “We are always looking for new ways to make it easier for our customers to recycle our packaging. Through this trial with Podback, in-store drop-off points will offer coffee pod users the chance to conveniently recycle their pods with us - whether they are Costa branded or not.
“The new front-of-house recycling units will be supported by increased messaging in-store, which we hope will act as a reminder to customers when visiting our participating stores. The trial will allow us to gather valuable customer feedback and insights, which we will use to enhance our future recycling solutions for pods, cups, and other packaging materials.”
The recycled aluminium and plastic from the pods are repurposed for various products such as beverage cans, car components, packaging crates, and building products.
Additionally, the used coffee grounds are processed through anaerobic digestion to generate renewable energy and soil improver.
The locations of all drop-off points will be added to the Recycle Now Recycling Locator, managed by Waste and Resources Action Programme, to assist UK residents in finding recycling locations.
