Nespresso to raise bar for sustainable aluminium

Nespresso has met a key target to recycle 75% of its used coffee capsules a year ahead of schedule as it seeks to set new standards for aluminium sustainability.


The consumer brand intends to build on this milestone by entering into technology trials with strategic partners to improve the recycling of aluminium packaging and its used capsules in particular.

In France, the company is working with Club des Emballages Légers en Acier et Aluminium (CELAA), where it has invested in the use of eddy current separation techniques to improve the efficiency of recovery levels.

Nespresso’s success in capsule recycling is in part due to its extensive network of consumer collection points which operate in over 20 countries worldwide.

In 2009, as part of its Ecolaboration programme, the company committed to tripling its recycling capacity – to date, Nespresso has 20,000 dedicated capsule collection points in 19 of its markets.

It is also working constructively with established national packaging schemes in Germany, Sweden and Finland and as of June 2012, its official global capsule recovery rate was 76.4%.

“We have invested heavily to make recycling as easy as possible for our consumers to return their capsules so that the aluminium can be reused,” said Guillaume Le Cunff, Nespresso’s director of international marketing & sustainability.

Nespresso is now working with the IUCN, civil society organisations and aluminium industry leaders to create a standard for aluminium sustainability by 2014 within the framework of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI).

According to Nespresso CEO Richard Girardot, the company sees aluminium as an indispensable material for guaranteeing the quality of its product.

“Even as a relatively small user of aluminium, we see the next stage of our commitment to aluminium sustainability as playing an active part in the multi-stakeholder ASI process together with our partners,” he said.

Maxine Perella

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