Aldi becomes a member of the aluminium coffee pod recycling scheme, Podback

UK's supermarket chain, Aldi, has registered itself as a member of the Podback recycling scheme that has been encouraging the country's residents to recycle their used aluminium tea, coffee or hot chocolate pods.

Due to this new agreement, 980 Aldi supermarket outlets all over the UK will introduce its flagship pods into the scheme, which would be the brand's first initiative to promote the usage of free recycling service to consumers.

From January next year, Aldi visitors will be able to order recycling bags through the Podback website, where used plastic or aluminium pods can be stored and dropped off at 6,500 Collect+ points. The users may also register for the local kerbside collection zones under their respective regional authorities.

Last year, Podback was established as the first coffee pod collection drive in the UK by Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, and the membership has since grown wider to include 16 brands from across the coffee sector.

Aluminium can be infinitely recycled to obtain a raw material that can retain the non-ferrous metal's original properties. Recycled aluminium pods are transformed to produce beverage cans and car components. The plastic pods are also recycled to make industrial packaging, furniture and construction items. The used coffee ground is also passed through anaerobic digestion to develop a combination of biogas and soil improver.

The Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi, Richard Gorman, commented: "We're pleased to be joining Podback on this journey – especially as the first [own-label] supermarket member."

"It's important to us that we help customers do the right thing once our hot drink pods have been used, and we look forward to seeing how our partnership with Podback progresses," Gorman added.

The Executive Director at Podback, Rick Hindley, mentioned: "We are delighted to welcome Aldi as the first supermarket brand member of Podback. This marks a key milestone for the programme, and we are looking forward to working with Aldi to promote our service to their customers. We hope other retailers will follow Aldi's lead and offer their own-brand pod customers the opportunity to recycle through Podback."

By registering with the Podback service, Aldi customers could aid in recycling 268 tonnes of plastic and 20 tonnes of aluminium each year coming from the brand's self-labelled coffee pods.

In February this year, Morrisons accepted the Podback scheme. Later in the year, UK Councils like Conwy County and Chichester District also became active participants.