Best Environmental Initiative: Nespresso France wins award for its recycling strategy

Nespresso France has won ‘Best Environmental Initiative’ in ‘Trophées Défis RSE’ 2015 for supporting innovation in recycling technology and developing partnerships to improve the recycling of aluminium coffee capsules and other small-sized metal packages.

Although aluminum is 100% recyclable, only 32% of household aluminium packaging is recycled in France. Because packaging sorting centres do not have suitable equipment, it is most often unable to process small packaging less than 7 centimetres.

That’s why, Nespresso co-founded CELAA, the Club for Aluminium and Steel Light Packaging (Club du Recyclage des Emballages Légers en Aluminium et Acier) in 2009. Its mission: to increase recycling capabilities for small-scale aluminium and steel packaging such as Nespresso capsules, bottle caps and aluminium foil. As part of CELAA, Nespresso invested in eddy current separation technology to improve the efficiency of aluminium and steel packaging recovery through the national collection and recycling scheme.

Going further to improve our environmental impact

In 2014, Nespresso France went further by launching ‘Project Metal’ in collaboration with Eco-Emballages, CELAA and the French mayors’ association. Through this project, Nespresso is encouraging financially the collection of small aluminium packaging within the French national packaging recovery system by paying cash incentives for every tonne sorted. The initiative has helped more than three million people in 500 communes across France to dispose of aluminium packaging using recycling bins.

These initiatives are part of Nespresso’s new sustainability strategy, The Positive Cup, where it is expanding its capacity to collect all used aluminium capsules, wherever it does business. Nespresso has installed more than 14,000 capsule collection points across 31 countries, and a home collection service is available in 15 markets.​