Londoners can now throw their Nespresso pods in the blue bin

Representatives from the City of London, Nespresso, Circular Materials, and Miller Waste were on hand for the announcement (Bailey Shakyaver/CTV News London)

The first city in Ontario to receive this upgrade - a new program coming to London hopes to keep more waste out of landfills. A green-bag recycling expansion means you can now throw your Nespresso pods into your recycling bin.

President of Nespresso Canada Carlos Oyanguren said that making recyclable headache free for the consumer increases uptake, “It’s very important to make it easier for our customers to recycle, and what can get easier than [recycling] at home with your blue bin?”

The partnership between Nespresso, and Circular Materials makes London the first city in Ontario to receive this new program. Residents can now fill a special green bag with used Nespresso coffee pods, where they will be plucked from production lines at local recycling facilities. The aluminum will be recycled, and the coffee grounds will go on to become compost – all at no additional cost to the city, or to the consumer.

Place your pods in the green bag, and they will be processed at your local recycling facility (Bailey Shakyaver/CTV News London)

Making products that are easily reusable for manufacturers increases the viability of recycled material. Allen Langdon, CEO of Circular Materials said that creating products that companies can reuse is a key component of what they do, “Aluminum is a great example, it’s a material that can be recycled [an] innumerable number of times, and so we want to be able to capture that material, and if at all possible make sure it goes back to our producers so they can reuse it in new products and packaging.”

On hand at the recycling facility for the announcement were several government officials – many of whom voiced their excitement at expanding recycling options for Londoners.

“I am thrilled that London is the first city in Ontario to welcome the launch of the Nespresso Green Bag Program. We are a city that leads on climate action, and Londoners can now further contribute to a more sustainable future by using Nespresso’s Green Bag Recycling Solution,” said Mayor Josh Morgan.

Sustainability was top of mind for everyone at Thursday’s announcement, Oyanguren said “for us in our sustainability and as a big [corporation] it`s very important to encourage recycling. We had already a couple of recycling alternatives even in Ontario, but this is by far the most convenient.”

Previously, consumers had the ability to mail their used pods back to Nespresso for recycling, however the green bags can now be dropped into any blue box in the city of London, making it more convenient.