TRENTON, New Jersey, USA – This National Coffee Day, coffee enthusiasts have even more reason to celebrate: International recycling leader TerraCycle offers convenient and sustainable solutions for recycling coffee packaging, ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfills or incinerators. Researchers estimate coffee capsules contribute around 576,000 metric tons of waste globally, while more than 16 billion disposable coffee cups are used and discarded worldwide each year.
Curbside recyclers don’t accept this waste stream because it’s unprofitable for them to recycle. The small size and complex material composition of coffee packaging make it costly to process.
“Most coffee packaging, such as pods, disposable cups and lids, and foil-lined bags, usually ends up in the trash, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle.
“At TerraCycle, we’re making it easy for coffee lovers to enjoy their favorite pick-me-up sustainably. Our free recycling programs and Zero Waste Boxes make it easy for consumers to recycle their empty coffee packaging.”
TerraCycle offers many free and easy-to-use programs to help consumers recycle packaging from their favorite coffee products, including:
Consumers can sign up on the respective TerraCycle program pages, download a prepaid shipping label, and send in empty coffee packaging. The packaging does not need to be cleaned before shipping, but it is recommended that as much of the remaining product be removed as possible.
For those looking to recycle a wider range of coffee-related packaging, TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes offer a comprehensive paid solution:
- Coffee Bag – Zero Waste Box™: Relish a morning cup of Joe with ease by using this box to recycle any brand of empty coffee bags, foil-lined bags, and ground coffee bags.
- Coffee Capsule – Zero Waste Box™: Enjoy your favorite brews and recycle used coffee capsules, pods, and discs from any brand.
- Coffee and Tea Accessories – Zero Waste Box™ – Ideal for offices, this box can accommodate coffee cups, lids, stirrers, and other related accessories.
Full Zero Waste Boxes can be returned to TerraCycle for recycling using the affixed prepaid shipping label. Once received at TerraCycle’s material recovery facilities, the coffee packaging is shredded, cleaned and recycled into raw materials used to make new products.
For more information on TerraCycle’s recycling programs, visit www.terracycle.com.
