Sustainable capsule recycling – convenient from home
Nespresso is introducing its new service Recycling at Home in Switzerland in collaboration with the Swiss Post. This service innovation puts the emphasis on customer service and sustainability. Coffee drinkers everywhere in Switzerland can now have their used Nespresso capsules conveniently collected directly at home. The used aluminium capsules are picked up by the postman when delivering the new coffee order, and then fed into the Nespresso recycling system.
An environmentally-friendly and easy solution for consumers
Nespresso developed the new environmentally friendly service Recycling at Home together with its logistics partner, the Swiss Post. The two Swiss companies are reinforcing their strong core values, such as customer service and sustainability.
“Our Nespresso recycling system has already been in place in Switzerland for 20 years. With Recycling at Home, we now offer additional ease of use and convenience to our consumers. The nation-wide coverage of our service has been designed to make it as easy as possible for our consumers to recycle their used aluminium capsules,” explains Pascal Hottinger, Director Nespresso Switzerland.
The new offer expands the existing efficient Nespresso recycling chain. With its more than 2’600 collection points all over the country, it already enables over three-quarters of Nespresso customers in Switzerland to return their used aluminium capsules to a Nespresso recycling point located less than two kilometres from their home.
“We developed Recycling at Home jointly with Nespresso. The service is a perfect illustration of our tailor-made customer solutions. The fact that we are contributing to sustainability, one of the core values of our postal service, through Recycling at Home is a bonus for us,” says Dieter Bambauer, Head of PostLogistics.
From innovative pilot project to successful launch across Switzerland
The new sustainable service started in 2011 as a pilot project in the cantons of Zurich, Basel-Country, Basel-City and Valais. The rapid uptake of this service showed that Recycling at Home is meeting a real customer need. Thanks to the nation-wide launch in July 2012, all Nespresso customers in Switzerland will now be able to benefit from the home pick-up of their used aluminium capsules.
The new service costs a contribution of one Swiss Franc and allows for easy and convenient handling directly from home. When ordering coffee by telephone or via internet, the customer communicates to Nespresso that he would like to recycle his used coffee capsules, and activates the service Recycling at Home. He then receives a specially developed Nespresso recycling bag, in which the used aluminium capsules are collected. When placing the next coffee order, the customer requests the pick-up of the recycling bag. An SMS or e-mail from the Swiss Post, sent before the delivery of the new Nespresso Grands Crus, reminds the customer to place the recycling bag in the storage compartment of his letter-box. Thus, the postman can collect the used capsules even in the absence of the customer.
More than 2’600 collection points for used capsules in Switzerland
Recycling at Home is a tailor-made customer service from Nespresso, which is convenient for the customer and contributes to sustainability. The objective of this new service is to bring the Nespresso recycling system directly into customers’ homes everywhere in Switzerland.
Collection point for used capsules in a Nespresso boutique
Currently, more than 2’600 Nespresso recycling points are already in place in Switzerland, located in Nespresso boutiques, with commercial partners, and at communal recycling centres. They are extensively used by Swiss customers and can be located through the Nespresso website, smartphone applications or a free telephone service.
Once used capsules are collected, they are fed into the Nespresso recycling system for revalorisation of the raw materials. The Nespresso recycling partner, the Barec Group, separates the aluminium from the coffee grounds in a specially-developed technical process. The coffee grounds are composted and can be used as a fertiliser, for example by the winemakers of the Lavaux region. The aluminium is recycled and reinserted in the aluminium value chain.
Aluminium: an infinitely recyclable material
Nespresso uses aluminium because it is the best material available today to protect the delicate aromas and flavours of the Grand Crus coffees against factors such as oxygen, light and humidity that can compromise freshness, taste and quality. Moreover, aluminium is a valuable raw material that is infinitely recyclable and reusable. By collecting and recycling used aluminium capsules, we are able to make a positive contribution to the environmental performance of every cup of Nespresso coffee.
More information about the recycling of Nespresso aluminium capsules
