FAQs

Billions of coffee capsules are being tossed into landfill every year. Our mission is to make it easy and convenient for consumers to process their aluminium coffee capsules at home, and use their current/existing kerbside recycling systems.

Until rePodder, only 1 option has been available to recycle coffee capsules, requiring plastic bags to be produced & adding carbon miles after you have enjoyed the convenient coffee.

rePodder provides an alternate method to process & recycle aluminium coffee capsules/pods without contributing to greenhouse gases.

The initial size released will process the original size aluminium coffee capsule that has been in use by Nespresso® for decades.

The original size is still very popular today because many competitor products have reached local supermarket shelves for convenient purchase (eg. Peets, L'Or, Lavazza, Maccona, illy, Starbucks - many more are being produced).

Due to many requests, rePodder will expand the cutter range to include other larger capsule sizes (eg. Vertuo and Double-Shot L’OR).

Any item smaller than 2 inches x 2 inches (about the size of a tennis ball) falls through the holes in sorting filters in most modern Material Recycling Facilities (MRFs), and those small items end up in landfill.

By reducing the pods to a smaller size, they can easily be collected into an empty aluminium can for recycling via your kerbside recycling bin – ensuring the aluminium gets to the smelter for an opportunity to make a new product.

Nespresso have a good return program and they've indicated 30% of their capsules are being returned. This means 70% are going to landfill (over 12 Billion/yr from only ONE brand). Using rePodder eliminates production of thick single-use plastic bags for transport, eliminates carbon miles added from transporting and processing (before the aluminium can be recycled), and no need to collect smelly pods for an extended period of time (taking valuable space in your kitchen)

Coffee grounds are an organic material. Putting large quantities of organic material into a smelter is very dangerous and can potentially have catastrophic results. All recyclable items need to be empty and clean from any "contaminant" (eg. liquid, and/or organic material). This helps increase the rate of purity for recyclable items that are forwarded to the companies that process/melt the product to make a new product.

Plastic capsules can emit chemicals that cause health issues. Biodegradable capsules lose their freshness quickly once the plastic packaging has been opened. Aluminium capsules are airtight and have a very thin shellac coating, which is food-grade and widely used in (and on) many products. This coating is burnt off during the smelting process, leaving the aluminium to be infinitely recycled and given new life, time after time. Plus recycling aluminium has a 95% energy saving = carbon saving.

Read more in our article.

YES!! We have conducted several tests at various "Cash for Containers" and "Containers For Change" machines (in Australia) and have found that the 'Tomra' machines will accept the eligible cans for a 10¢ refund.

If you have one near you, we would love to know the result when you insert an eligible aluminium can with the clean aluminium coffee pods inside. It would be a great help to let others know by taking a quick video and posting on Instagram or Facebook and tag @repodder to confirm it.

Remember: only insert clean aluminium inside the aluminium cans - anything else will be a contaminant.

The vast majority of kerbside recycling is collected by your council/municipality, and usually delivered to a dedicated centre for recycling – commonly called a “Material Recycling Facility” (also ‘Murf’ or MRF for short). Due to the sheer volume of items collected, these facilities often have an automated process (with an eddy current) to sort and filter the items.

To be 100% sure, you can call your local council and ask them “is my recycling sent to an automated Material Recycling Facility?”. Note: If you ask them if they accept coffee capsules, they will say "no" because they think there is organic material (coffee grounds) inside them.

It's important to remember, this is a very new product & method. Though we have checked with a very large recycler in Australia and they have indicated there is no issue with the clean aluminium being collected & recycled via the aluminium can through kerbside collection... most will assume they will have coffee grounds in them (which is a "contaminant"). See further information in our article to changing mindset on waste.

There are many scrap metal businesses that pay cash for aluminium scrap. Find your local business and ask how they would prefer these clean, crushed & folded capsules provided (ie. in a bag or bucket etc). They will require the capsules to be loose, to ensure the rate of purity (ie. no rocks or contaminants).

Consider joining forces with your local not-for-profit community groups to raise funds while saving the planet from nasty greenhouse gas emissions.