How should I dispose of compostable coffee pods?
If you’re wondering how your should dispose of compostable coffee pods then read on!
Once you’ve ejected your eco coffee capsules from your Nespresso® machine, placing them in your council-run food waste collection bin means they will be processed into compost or liquid fertilizer depending on your local council’s food waste processing facilities. By avoiding landfill, you’ll also reduce the resulting methane emissions produced by coffee grounds in landfill.
Should capsules accidentally sneak into your black bin (er herm) then they will likely be sent to landfill or to an incinerator, where they will be burnt to create ‘energy from waste’. This is not ideal as burning the worlds resources is not exactly sustainable, but this is the reality of much of our houshold waste. Many companies cshout about ‘zero to landfill’, well this is what they mean. Instead of burying it they burn it. We’ll le you decide on what you think but nevertheless, if our eco compostable coffe pods make it into an incinerator then they won’t produce the volatile or toxic gases or residue that plastic and aluminium coffee capsules produce. Tests by the well known Vegware company have also shown that bio (natural) materials also burn at a higher temperature, therefore creating more enrgy per gram.
Ultimately, the incredibly diverse (bonkers!) recycling requirements and facilities provided by different UK councils means there is little consistency in how your food and garden waste is processed but this is thankfully something the Government is looking into as part of their Consultation on Consistency in Household and Business Recycling Collections in England.
Are your compostable coffee capsules home compostable?
Tests mean we know our capsules can be home-composted, but ONLY under ‘healthy’ compost conditions, where the heat and elements are sufficient enough. In the UK, these elements – in particular heat of course – are not always optimal so we would recommend home composting only if your are a pro home-composter. These different conditions from pile compost pile to pile means a the timeframe for them to breakdown is not consistent.
We could make shallow promises (like a few competitors do!) but we want to be transparent, so until we receive Vincotte / TUV Austria ‘home compost’ certification we will not be claiming ours are home compostable so you now exactly where we stand.
What if my council doesn’t collect food waste?
If you don’t have council food waste collections, First Mile’s Coffee Pods RecycleBox service is perfect to ensure your capsules are processed correctly. It is the best and cheapest such service, where you fill a box you have to hand then book a collection or leave the box at any Hermes drop off point.
Whichever way you do it, the service costs just £10 and believe us you can store-up a whole bunch of capsules as the only stipulations are that it has to be “light enough for one person to lift and measures no more than 41 x 30 x 30 CM”! Please just ensure you pop a note in the box (and in the “Extra notes” section when booking your collection) confirming they are Blue Goose industrially compostable coffee capsules so the First Mile team know how to deal with them.
How should I dispose of your coffee capsule box packaging ?
Printed using vegetable ink and secured with plastic-free glue, please recycle our sustainably sourced FSC certified coffee capsule boxes to continue their lifecycle and help the very real fight against global deforestation. This also applies to our outer postal box, which is FSC certified too…we’ve not stopped short when it comes to investing in doing the very best we can for our planet.
