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Comment by tikkabhuna | Hacker News Reader

Nespresso do have a recycling program[0]. The recycling bags are free and can be dropped off, again for free. I suppose this might differ from country to country, but in the UK what they propose sounds pretty good?

My housemate had a "proper" coffee machine and it was ok for one cup, but it temperamental. If I packed it too tight it wouldn't work. I couldn't reliably get the same result.

It is also very hands on. Nespresso machines let me make 2 within a few minutes while I prepare breakfast. Start warming up machine, milk in frother, cup under nozzle, press start.

[0] https://www.nespresso.com/uk/en/recycling-initiatives?name=n...

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> Nespresso do have a recycling program

That they have a recycling program isn't that interesting. Nespresso creates a waste/problem, they should be ensuring the waste is minimized. Meaning, not just a recycling program (I doubt it's used much), but also do something if it appears customers are ignoring the recycling program. It feels too much like an easy excuse otherwise.

In Netherlands the industry used to also point towards largely ignored recycling programs. For some cases (plastic bottles) the government actually did something with that, then ensured it was used. Basically the measure taken by many countries, small fee which you get back as you hand it in. Handing in is the same place that you get the bottle from. This continues to work with Internet (delivery only) supermarkets; next time they arrive you can hand in the bottles + plastic delivery bags.

That's a good point. In the UK we're very poor at recycling schemes and there's little motivation other than an individual wanting to help the environment.

Maybe recycling bags could be easily weighed (as pods should have a similar weight?) and the persons account could be credited. Balancing the price/reward would be difficult, especially now as thirdparties could easily undercut with no care for the environment.

I suppose I'm glad they have a recycling program and it helps me feel like I'm not negatively contributing, but I agree its a shame that the scheme isn't more popular considering how easy it is.

There is a reason why "recycle" is last in "reduce, reuse, recycle".

To be honest, do you really think most Nespresso owners are going to do some extra recycling they have to handle themselves instead of just throwing the pods into the city collected trash? It’s a nice idea but i have hard time seeing it to work in practice.

Going to be honest here - I’m a nespresso owner and I’ve never used the recycling program.

If you're ordering coffee from the Nespresso website, just add the Recycling Collection option - it's free.

What happens is simply that, on the day you receive your order, somebody will also come and collect your bag - no need to mess with labels. If you need a bag just order it on the web - it's free with any coffee and you can get multiple ones in one go.

Otherwise, when you go buy the coffee, just bring the bag with you. Actual Nespresso shops will all accept it, popup stands might not. The last option (imho the less convenient) is to print a label then bring the bag to one of those delivery-pickup places like cornershops and petrol stations.

We recycle a bit differently, possibly because we're in the US: Nespresso sends us pre-paid UPS bags. We fill the bags with used pods, and take them by the UPS store every once in a while.

I'm in the US and I regularly use Nespresso's recycling program.

Whenever I order new coffee they ship a bag with a pre-paid label on it. I just keep it in the freezer until it's full. Then I drop it off at UPS once a month.

Why do you store plastic trash in the freezer?

I suspect the wet coffee grounds are still in the pod. (also fyi, the pods are aluminum).

The article says only 5% of pods are recycled.

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