Aldi is set to become the first supermarket member of the Podback recycling scheme, helping customers to recycle their used coffee, tea and hot chocolate pods. As part of its membership, the supermarket will introduce its own-label pods into the Podback scheme in an industry first, whilst also helping to promote the free recycling service to shoppers throughout the country in over 980 stores.
From early next year, Aldi customers can visit the Podback website to either order recycling bags, which can be filled and taken to one of 6,500 Collect+ drop off points, or register for kerbside collections if they live in a participating local authority area. Podback launched last year and is the first coffee pod recycling service of its kind in the UK. It was set up by Nestle and Jacobs Douwe Egberts UK and membership has since grown to include 16 brands from across the coffee sector.
Pods recycled through Podback are reprocessed within the UK. Recycled aluminium pods are used in the manufacture of beverage cans and car components, and plastic coffee pods into items such as furniture, industrial packaging and building products. The used coffee grounds also go through anaerobic digestion to produce a combination of biogas and soil improver.
