Nespresso has recently announced that residents of Jersey City, New Jersey in low-rise residential buildings can recycle their aluminum coffee capsules through their at-home curbside recycling service as they do with their metal, glass and plastic materials.
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This marks an expansion of the successful curbside recycling program that launched for New York City residents in 2019. Nespresso’s investment and collaboration with local recycling providers has expanded access to small-format aluminum recycling services for over 8.6 million residents in the metro-NYC area, where approximately 350 tons of capsules have been recovered since the program’s inception.
“We’re thrilled to expand the curbside recycling program to Jersey City, as we aim to make the second life of our recyclable aluminum capsules even more accessible and convenient for our customers,” stated Jessica Padula, Head of Sustainability and Vice President of Marketing, Nespresso USA. “We have invested in our recycling program for more than 30 years and remain committed to the cross-sector innovation and collaboration that will be crucial to increasing the value of recycling in other municipalities, driving a more circular future for Nespresso.”
“We have been processing curbside recyclables collected by Jersey City for many years, and we are always happy to work with our municipal partners to expand the array of materials their residents can include in the curbside program. At the same time, Nespresso has been a great brand partner for us, making sure their product has a home in the recycling economy,” stated Tom Outerbridge, CEO Balcones Recycling.
Small format aluminum materials are processed at Balcones Recycling facilities for NYC residents, and now more than 127,000 Jersey City households can join the program to divert their aluminum coffee capsules.
Nespresso has been committed to recycling for over 30 years, managing its own recycling programs to drive the second life of its aluminum capsules. Globally, Nespresso aims to recover at least 50% of its capsules by 2025. All Nespresso Original capsules are made from 80% recycled aluminum, and 88% of Nespresso Vertuo capsules are made of 85% recycled aluminum content.
Nespresso has also worked alongside a range of municipalities and businesses around the world to invest in collective recycling initiatives that enable convenient collection of used capsules. In addition to encouraging sustainable practices among customers, Nespresso champions innovation and has been piloting compostable paper-based capsules in several international markets.
In the U.S., Nespresso coffee drinkers can recycle their used capsules at over 100,000 collection points nation-wide, including Nespresso boutiques and select retailers, or simply mail them back to Nespresso recycling partners at no cost using a pre-paid mailer.
At this time, access to curbside recycling is limited to residential households in NYC and residents in low-rise buildings in Jersey City. Commercial establishments in these areas, along with residents of high-rise buildings in Jersey City may continue to use Nespresso prepaid UPS recycling bags. Nespresso is working with other recycling organizations to develop additional collection solutions and provide convenient access to all Jersey City residents.