Podback, the nationwide coffee pod recycling service, has expanded its membership, with four independent brands recently coming on board. Difference Coffee, Little’s Coffee Co., Neighbourhood Coffee Roasters and Roastworks Coffee Co are the latest brands to join Podback as members, meaning that pods from 16 brands can now be recycled via Podback.
Podback is a not-for-profit recycling service created by the leading names in pod coffee systems, Nestle and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, to give coffee pod consumers simple and easy ways to recycle. Launched in April 2021 the programme has seen significant growth so far in 2022, with over 500,000 households now able to recycle pods as part of their local authority kerbside service, and growing support from across the coffee and grocery sectors.
Customers of Podback members can recycle their pods in two ways:
Kerbside collection: Over 500,000 households across nine UK local authorities* can have their used pods collected as part of their regular household waste and recycling service. Consumers can check whether their area is eligible, and sign up via podback.org
Drop Off: Member brands provide their customers with free Podback recycling bags, which can be sent back for recycling via their nearest Collect+ drop-off point. There are over 6,500 Collect+ drop-off points in local stores across the UK, open 7 days a week.
Rick Hindley, Executive Director of Podback, said: “Podback was created to enable consumers to recycle plastic and aluminium pods through one, easy to access and consistent scheme. Welcoming these four new brands as members is another step towards making Podback the category-wide solution for recycling pods. We look forward to working with each of them to raise awareness of Podback in their businesses, and helping their consumers to ensure every pod enjoyed, is recycled.”
Amir Gehl, CEO of Difference Coffee, said: “Sustainability is a major pillar of our company. We have been a Carbon negative brand since 2020, but have struggled to find a recycling infrastructure for our pods in the UK. We are delighted to have found Podback as the solution which we believe can make a real difference, and we encourage our clients to recycle our products responsibly.”
Chris Holloway, Co-Founder of Neighbourhood Coffee Roasters, said: “Joining Podback is a no-brainer. Specialty coffee is an everyday luxury, and pods are a great system for delivering simple, joyful, flavourful, coffee moments, but neither of these can be at the cost of the planet. From day one of launching our pods, we wanted to provide our customers with the easiest, most convenient way to recycle our specialty coffee pods, and Podback ticks every box. Their reach is nationwide, their system is easy for the consumer to navigate, and we’re delighted to partner with them to provide a transparent, simple way of recycling the pods that bring us all some great coffee moments.”
Will Little, Founder of Roastworks & Managing Director of Little’s said: “At Little’s and Roastworks, we’ve been big believers in the virtues of aluminium as an infinitely recyclable, sustainable packaging material from day. Partnering with Podback provides us with the end-of-life waste management solution that allows us to achieve that. It really is a game changer.”
Through Podback, used aluminium and plastic pods are reprocessed in the UK. Recycled aluminium pods are used in the manufacture of beverage cans and car components, and plastic coffee pods are recycled into durable plastic products including furniture and industrial packaging. The used coffee grounds go through anaerobic digestion to produce a combination of biogas and soil improver. You can learn more about the recycling process in this short video.