Coffee pods and capsules

The single-use pods used in many coffee machines are not usually accepted in your recycling collections from home, however recycling schemes exist for coffee pods and capsules.

Coffee, tea and hot chocolate pods are made of recyclable materials, but because they are too small for most sorting machinery and contain ‘organic’ material, they need to be collected separately to ensure they reach the correct recycling facility.

Most coffee pod brands in the UK are now members of Podback, a not-for-profit recycling service.

Podback offers a range of options for recycling plastic and aluminium pods, including drop-off points at local authority recycling centres, supermarkets and coffee shops. The service available depends on where you live.