Q: When will my bag be collected once the booking has been made?

If the booking is made before 12:00pm (noon) – your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag will be collected on the same business day. If the booking is made after 12:00pm (noon) – your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag will be collected before the end of the next business day. For rural pick up allow 2 extra days. On weekends or public holidays - your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag will be collected before the end of the next business day.

Q: Are Nespresso coffee capsules recyclable?

Yes, Nespresso coffee capsules are made from aluminium – the best material to protect the freshness and quality of our coffees, which has the additional benefit of being infinitely recyclable. The used coffee grounds inside our capsules can also go on to a second life.

Q: How can Nespresso customers recycle their capsules?

There are currently five ways to recycle your used Nespresso aluminium coffee capsules in Aotearoa New Zealand: Recycling just got easier with Doorstep Collection. Fill with your used Nespresso capsules and have them collected from your door. Return your used aluminium capsules to a Nespresso Boutique. Drop them off at a participating collection point. Drop your used capsules back to a NZ Post shop using a special NZ Post satchel. Participate in one of our bulk recycling collection initiatives where workplaces or community locations can become a recycling point.

Question 1

Is there a fee for the pick-up of my Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag?

Accepted Answer

The collection is included in the price of the bag. You can arrange your bag to be collected with NZ Post once full with the pre-paid courier ticket.

Question 2

Where/How should I book the pick-up of my Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag?

Accepted Answer

Visit https://nzpost.co.nz/bookapickup to book a pickup for your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag.

Include the tracking number, which can be found on the bag.
Add your email address to receive a booking confirmation.
Add pick-up instructions to help the courier to find your bag.

Question 3

When should I place my bag in its pick-up location for collection?

Accepted Answer

Please ensure your bag is ready for pick-up before booking the collection, or immediately following confirmation. The courier might be just around the corner!

Question 4

When will my bag be collected once the booking has been made?

Accepted Answer

If the booking is made before 12:00pm (noon) – your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag will be collected on the same business day.
If the booking is made after 12:00pm (noon) – your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag will be collected before the end of the next business day.
For rural pick up allow 2 extra days.
On weekends or public holidays - your Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag will be collected before the end of the next business day.

Question 5

I have booked a pick-up, but my Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag hasn’t been collected, what should I do?

Accepted Answer

There could be various reasons why your Doorstep Collection hasn’t been collected:

The bag is not ready at the time the driver came.
There are problems with accessing to the pickup point.
Parcel is not in a visible location as specified in the pickup booking

We recommend that you rebook a new pick-up on the NZ Post website: https://nzpost.co.nz/bookapickup.

Question 6

How can I stay up to date with the delivery of my Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag to Nespresso’s recycling facility?

Accepted Answer

Check the NZ Post website https://nzpost.co.nz/tracking for updates on your pick-up request.

Question 7

Will my Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag also be recycled?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our partner, FuturePost, helps recycle our capsule postage bags into fence post products.

Question 8

What is my Doorstep Collection Recycling Bag made of?

Accepted Answer

The bag is made of LDPE and PET.

Question 9

Are Nespresso coffee capsules recyclable?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Nespresso coffee capsules are made from aluminium – the best material to protect the freshness and quality of our coffees, which has the additional benefit of being infinitely recyclable. The used coffee grounds inside our capsules can also go on to a second life.

Question 10

How can Nespresso customers recycle their capsules?

Accepted Answer

There are currently five ways to recycle your used Nespresso aluminium coffee capsules in Aotearoa New Zealand:

Recycling just got easier with Doorstep Collection. Fill with your used Nespresso capsules and have them collected from your door.
Return your used aluminium capsules to a Nespresso Boutique.
Drop them off at a participating collection point.
Drop your used capsules back to a NZ Post shop using a special NZ Post satchel.
Participate in one of our bulk recycling collection initiatives where workplaces or community locations can become a recycling point.

Question 11

What happens to your capsules when they’re recycled?

Accepted Answer

Recycled coffee capsules are sent to Ecostock in Wiri, Auckland, where the aluminium is separated from the coffee grounds.​ Ecogas then uses a natural process to transform the coffee grounds into a nutrient-rich fertilizer and renewable energy. The aluminium is returned to the aluminium industry through our partnership with Phoenix Metalman Recycling.

Question 12

Why does Nespresso use aluminium for its coffee capsules?

Accepted Answer

We use aluminium because it is the best material to protect the freshness, taste and quality of Nespresso coffee. Aluminium is a naturally occurring metal and is infinitely recyclable, and recycled aluminium is exceptionally versatile. Creating new material from recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than being extracted from raw material. Thanks to the aluminium, there is no need for additional over-packaging to protect freshness and taste. An estimated 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today. Aluminium is used in a wide range of products, from food packaging and cars, to computers, window frames and bicycles.

Question 13

Are your capsules made from recycled aluminium?

Accepted Answer

All our Original Line capsules are currently made from 80% recycled aluminium and most of our Vertuo capsules are made using 85% recycling aluminium.

Question 14

Why aren’t your capsules made from 100% recycled aluminium?

Accepted Answer

There are two reasons: (1) the capsule manufacturer must use some virgin aluminium to fine-tune the alloy to get the right properties; and (2) the membrane is still made from virgin aluminium.

Question 15

Have you ever considered using plastic capsules as an alternative?

Accepted Answer

Plastic capsules generally need more packaging, such as an additional wrapper to preserve freshness. Ironically, this is often made of aluminium. As aluminium is infinitely recyclable, we believe it is the more sustainable material for our capsules as it reduces the need for extra packaging and is the best material to protect the freshness and quality of our coffee. Recycling plastic capsules is also complex than those made from aluminium.

Question 16

Why don’t you use biodegradable capsules?

Accepted Answer

At the moment, aluminium remains the best material for us to maintain the quality of our coffee during the production, transport and storage stages of our supply chain. It is also the only food safe material which is also infinitely recyclable when returned to our capsule recycling scheme. Our commitment to innovation means we are always looking for more sustainable options and we will continue to test and research designs and materials.

Question 17

Does portioned coffee generate unnecessary waste?

Accepted Answer

We use a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to measure the environmental impact of our products. It shows that the greatest impacts are the processes of coffee farming, followed by the machine-use phase. Packaging is not the main driver of the environmental impact, it comes third. With the Nespresso precision consumption system, our customers only use the exact amount of water, coffee and energy needed to make one cup with no wasted resources - minimising food, water and energy waste. The precise use of resources in a precision consumption system can actually reduce waste, and in many scenarios this more than compensates for the additional packaging used for portioned coffee.

Question 18

What about Nespresso Professional customers, how can they recycle their used Professional coffee capsules?

Accepted Answer

We offer a free of charge collection service to our larger customers for their used Nespresso capsules. Upon request, we will send a bulk recycling kit which contains three boxes that can hold in excess of 1,500 used aluminium capsules each (both Professional & in-home Nespresso capsules). As both Nespresso capsules are recyclable, we also encourage businesses to collect the used Nespresso aluminium capsules that employees can bring in from home, making it even easier to participate in recycling.

Question 19

Do you recycle non-Nespresso capsules?

Accepted Answer

Our recycling service is designed to cater for Nespresso customers, so our facility can process all aluminium capsules. We’ve been doing trials as part of the product stewardship to cater to different types of capsules but it is not yet ready.

Question 20

What do I get for recycling?

Accepted Answer

We believe that customers understand and appreciate the impact that recycling can have on improving the environmental performance of a cup of Nespresso coffee and in itself this provides a strong incentive to recycle used capsules.

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