Coffee capsules are too small to be recycled through household collections, so we have developed our own returns scheme to make sure these are recycled appropriately.
We chose aluminium for our capsules because it delivers the best flavour, provides an incredible barrier against moisture and oxygen, keeping our coffee at its freshest. It’s also one of the most recyclable materials on the planet.
It’s easy to recycle Allpress capsules. You can accumulate them, then drop them off at any of our flagship locations globally. Or take part in one of our local return schemes outlined below.
Note: We don’t advise recycling capsules at home through curbside collection recycling bins. Any capsules that do go into household recycling, even if cleaned, will contaminate the waste stream and end up in landfills.
New Zealand
Our New Zealand customers have three options to ensure their used capsules are recycled:
Drop your used capsules to any of our Roastery Cafes (Auckland, Christchurch & Dunedin)
Purchase a Prepaid Returns bag with your online order, fill it with your used capsules and send it back to us where will recycle appropriately. Each bag will come with instructions on how to arrange collection with your courier driver. Rural addresses are excluded from this prepaid option.
If you live at a rural address or want to arrange your own returns, package your used capsules up and send them to our Roastery. Please ensure these are in a watertight bag, as to not leak on their way to us.
Allpress Espresso Capsules Returns
8 Drake Street
Auckland Central, 1010
Once your capsules are returned to us, it is put in our Zero Waste Box™ then shipped to TerraCycle® where they are shredded to separate the coffee ground from the aluminium. The aluminium is then melted down to be remoulded into new recycled products, and the spent coffee grounds are composted.
Australia
As well as being able to drop your used capsules at any of our Roastery Cafes (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Byron Bay), we also offer a free, easy to use recycling scheme for our coffee capsules in Australia.
Sign up for a free TerraCycle account online.
Collect your used capsules at home using a watertight bag. When you’ve collected more than 120 capsules, you are ready to send your capsules to be recycled.
Place the bag in a box and download a shipping label from your TerraCycle account. When you’re on the website click “Ship us your waste” and follow the prompts.
Print your label and tape it securely onto your box.
Drop labelled and sealed box at your local post office to be shipped to TerraCycle free of charge.
Once your Allpress Capsules have made it back to TerraCycle they are shredded to separate the coffee ground from the aluminium. The aluminium is then melted down to be remoulded into new recycled products, and the spent coffee grounds are composted.
In order to use this recycling stream effectively, we ask that you squeeze any excess liquid from your capsules and ensure they are dry and sealed in a plastic bag before placing them in your shipping box. This is to avoid any contamination with dripping packages, and will ensure that all recycling packages arrive safely.
United Kingdom
As well as continuing to accept capsule returns in any of our UK Roastery Cafes (Dalston Roastery cafe and Redchurch St Espresso Bar), our UK team are excited to announce a new partnership with the team at Podback - a company founded to create easier recycling solutions for Capsule users.
1. Add a Podback Used Capsule Returns bag to your next order, or buy it as a stand-alone purchase through our UK online store.
2.Once your bag is full, visit the Podback website for the best way to return used capsules for your location. This will either be a curb-side collection, or dropping your bag off at any participating Collect+ location nation-wide.
Your used capsules are then sent directly to Podback's partner aluminium processor Tandom, in Cheshire. The capsules are shredded, allowing the aluminium to be separated from the coffee and recycled infinitely into other aluminium products.
Singapore
In Singapore, our coffee capsules can be recycled by returning them to us at our Singapore hub.
When buying capsules on our online store opt to receive a prepaid returns label with your order, fill a watertight bag with your used capsules (approx 120 capsules) and drop them at your local post office to send back to us.
*Please note, returns labels are eligible for one month after they are printed so it is best to collect your capsules and order a returns label with your second order to send us your used capsules once new ones arrive.
Once your used capsules are returned we collect them in a Zero Waste Box™ and ship them to TerraCycle® where they are shredded to separate the coffee ground from the aluminium. The aluminium is then melted down to be remoulded into new recycled products, and the spent coffee grounds are composted.
