East Ayrshire Council has become the first local authority in Scotland to offer residents a kerbside collection of used coffee pods, in partnership with Podback.
Residents will be able to sign up to recycle their plastic and aluminium coffee pods from Monday 2 October. Collections will start on Monday 16 October and will be part of the normal weekly kerbside recycling service. Residents just need to leave their bags of pods on the lid of their recycling trolley by 6:30am on their normal collection day. Residents living in flats can participate by using the Podback Drop Off service.
The new coffee pod recycling service supports the Council’s aims to reduce waste, help increase the recycling rate to 50% by 2025, save resources and give materials a second life.
Councillor Jim McMahon, Cabinet Spokesperson for Housing, Transport and Communities said “We are really excited about being the first local authority in Scotland to introduce coffee pod recycling to our existing kerbside recycling collection. This scheme makes it easy and convenient for residents to participate at home, allowing coffee pod users to enjoy their coffee knowing their pods won’t be going to waste. This scheme also shows our ambition to increase recycling rates locally and provide the very best service to our communities at the kerbside.”
Podback Executive Director Rick Hindley said: “We’re delighted to be launching our first Podback service in Scotland. East Ayrshire is leading the way for coffee pod recycling and hopefully can encourage more Scottish authorities to sign up. Recycling with Podback means tonnes of used pods will be removed from the waste stream, and the materials will be recycled in the UK.”
Once collected, the coffee pods will be sent to specialist recycling plants in the UK. The pods are shredded to remove the coffee, then the plastic and aluminium used to create new products, including packaging, car components and building products. The coffee grounds will be treated by anaerobic digestion to create renewable energy (biogas) and soil improver.
For more information please visit: www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/podback
To find out more about signing up for the new Podback service please visit: www.podback.org