Nespresso Helps Advance New York City Recycling, Improving New Yorkers' Ability to Recycle Aluminum Coffee Capsules and Other Items through City Curbside Program

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, on America Recycles Day, Nespresso, the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), and Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR) encourage New Yorkers to recycle their Nespresso coffee capsules and other lightweight aluminum items through the City's curbside program. New Yorkers can recycle all small aluminum products in the same recycling bin as they do plastic, glass, and other materials. This initiative makes it possible for even more of these articles to take on a second life and eventually transform into new products, such as automotive parts and soda cans.

Earlier in 2019, Nespresso committed $1.2 million to improve the recovery of small aluminum and better allow for the curbside recycling of its coffee capsules in New York City. In most cities, the size and light weight of such items, including foil and house keys, require that they be divided from other mixed metals using special equipment. With the coffee company's funding, SMR purchased new technology to better sort and capture these articles, increasing the efficacy of the City's recycling system.

"We make our capsules from aluminum because it's a fully recyclable metal and it is an excellent material for preserving the quality of our coffee," said Guillaume Le Cunff, President and CEO of Nespresso USA. "We are constantly innovating to make recycling easier for Nespresso customers and to contribute new solutions to all recycling challenges, and we're excited to help improve recovery in New York City and lessen the amount of all kinds of aluminum in our landfills today."

This collaboration with DSNY and SMR supports New York City's Zero Waste initiative. It has the potential to reduce the 43,000 tons of aluminum foil and other mixed metals that currently end up in local landfills each year.

"We encourage New Yorkers to recycle their aluminum coffee capsules and other lightweight aluminum items, like foil and can lids, with their other recyclables," said Kathryn Garcia, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation. "We fully support this effort as it helps on our city's path to zero waste, and applaud Nespresso for being a strong example of how the private sector can contribute to solving recycling challenges in our communities."  

"Our glass plant processes more than 11,000 tons of materials per month, and we're excited to see that number increase due to our collaboration with Nespresso and DSNY," said Thomas Outerbridge, General Manager of Sims Municipal Recycling. "The materials that are recovered in our facility are sold to manufacturers, which allows them to be turned into new products."

Nespresso's Existing Recycling Programs in the United States and Europe

Nespresso's existing dedicated recycling program in the United States, in partnership with UPS, will continue to be made available across the country. Consumers can bring recycling bags with used coffee capsules to one of 88,000 UPS drop-off locations, or to one of 500 collection points in Nespresso Boutiques and select retailers around the country.

Once capsules are collected via the recycling bag program, they are sent to recovery businesses who separate the aluminum from the coffee grounds to give them a second life. The aluminum is processed and, ultimately, reused to create new products. The coffee grounds are turned into nutrient-rich compost and topsoil.

Globally, Nespresso has worked with a range of municipalities and businesses to invest in dedicated initiatives that enable the convenient recycling of used capsules. In 1991, in Switzerland, it helped to develop the first recycling system dedicated to Nespresso capsules. The coffee company also helped to implement a municipal recycling program in Paris, France, that is similar to the one in New York City. Consumers in Finland, Germany and Sweden can also recycle their capsules in the same way they do other household packaging. 

To learn more, visit: https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/services#!/recycling/capsules-recycling.

Carner Round
Weber Shandwick
347.260.1957
[email protected]

Belinda Mager
New York City Department of Sanitation
646.885.5020
[email protected]

Sims Municipal Recycling
Réal Hamilton-Romeo
Director, Corporate Communications
[email protected]

About Nestlé Nespresso SA
Nestlé Nespresso SA is the pioneer and reference for high-quality portioned coffee. The company works with more than 100,000 farmers in 13 countries through its AAA Sustainable Qualitytm Program to embed sustainability practices on farms and the surrounding landscapes. Launched in 2003 in collaboration with The Rainforest Alliance, the program helps to improve the yield and quality of harvests, ensuring a sustainable supply of high quality coffee and improving livelihoods of farmers and their communities.

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, Nespresso operates in 80 countries and has 13,600 employees. In 2018, it operated a global retail network of approximately 800 boutiques. For more information, visit the Nespresso corporate website: www.nestle-nespresso.com.

About the New York City Department of Sanitation
The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) keeps New York City healthy, safe and clean by collecting, recycling and disposing of waste, cleaning streets and vacant lots, and clearing snow and ice. The Department operates 59 district garages and manages a fleet of more than 2,000 rear-loading collection trucks, 450 mechanical brooms and 693 salt/sand spreaders. The Department clears litter, snow and ice from approximately 6,500 miles of City streets and removes debris from vacant lots as well as abandoned vehicles from City streets.

About Sims Municipal Recycling
Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR), an emerging leader in the municipal recycling industry, was established in 2003 as a division of Sims Metal Management, a global leader in metal and electronics recycling. Since its founding, SMR has quickly become a cornerstone of the New York City curbside recycling program. Through its long-term contract with the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), SMR processes and markets 100% of the metal, glass and plastic, and 50% of the paper collected by DSNY from all New Yorkers. SMR serves New York City through its facilities in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Jersey City, NJ. Please visit www.simsmunicipal.com for more information on SMR and its commitment to sustainability.

SOURCE Nespresso