Access to coffee pod recycling has reached a new milestone, with 52% of UK households now having a local Podback drop-off point for plastic and aluminium coffee pods in their local authority area. Podback is supporting 162 local authorities to provide the service at 336 household waste and recycling sites (HWRCs) across the UK, reaching 14.8 million households. This includes 22 sites in London, serving 2.6 million households in 23 London Boroughs, giving 68% household coverage.
Podback
Launched in 2021 by the leading names in UK coffee, Nestle and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Podback is a not-for-profit company, supported by 28 member brands who together represent over 80% of the UK pod coffee market. Together they fund the service to provide consumers with convenient ways to recycle across a nationwide drop-off network, which includes HWRCs, supermarkets and coffee shops.
The first HWRCs to partner with Podback were in Suffolk and the Re3 Waste Partnership in Berkshire in 2023. Since that time 768 tonnes of pods have been collected at HWRCs nationwide. So far this year 10 of Podback’s HWRC partners have collected over 10 tonnes of pods, with North Yorkshire County Council and Essex County Council both passing the 20 tonne mark within the first six months of the year.
Podback
Commenting on the progress of HWRC collections Podback Executive Director Rick Hindley said:
“Local authorities have played a key role in the development of coffee pod recycling in the UK over the last five years, and continue to do so. Passing 50% of UK household coverage is a significant milestone in the continued development of our collection infrastructure.
“I’d obviously encourage more councils to consider including coffee pods in the list of items accepted at recycling centres. With Podback support the service can be up and running in as little as six weeks.”
Podback provides councils with collection containers, site signage plus a marketing support package to launch and promote the service. The service is fully-funded, and includes management of all logistics and data reporting.
For more information contact Podback: contact@podback.org
Podback
