Costa Coffee has launched a trial collaboration with Podback, a UK coffee pod recycling service, to offer pod recycling at 142 stores across the UK.

During the trial, customers can collect free Podback recycling bags from all 133 Costa Coffee stores within Tesco locations and nine Costa stores in the Swindon area. Once full, bags can be returned to the same stores for recycling.

The scheme accepts both plastic and aluminium pods from Podback member brands, including Costa pods for Nespresso, Tassimo and Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines. Podback-branded recycling points have also been installed in participating Tesco stores "to make it even easier to spot opportunities to recycle pods," said the coffee chain giant.

The new recycling points were introduced in August, expanding Costa Coffee's existing pod recycling programme. Costa Coffee and Podback aim to collect more pods for recycling through specialist facilities, where materials can be separated and processed for reuse.

Costa is the first UK coffee chain to work with Podback on customer-facing pod recycling points.

Rick Hindley, executive director of Podback, said: “This trial gives Podback customers the opportunity to drop off their used pods at local Costa Coffee stores, a response to customer feedback telling us people want a choice of ways to recycle that fit with their daily lives. We are excited to be working with Costa Coffee and Tesco to make this a reality in more than 140 locations across the country. We are sure Podback customers will welcome the new service, and hope that it is the first step to rolling out more drop-off locations throughout the UK.”

Liz Higgins, head of sustainability at Costa Coffee, added: “We are always looking for new ways to make it easier for our customers to recycle our packaging. Through this trial with Podback, in-store drop-off points will offer coffee pod users the chance to conveniently recycle their pods with us – whether they are Costa branded or not."

"The new front-of-house recycling units will be supported by increased messaging in store, which we hope will act as a reminder to customers when visiting our participating stores. The trial will allow us to gather valuable customer feedback and insights, which we will use to enhance our future recycling solutions for pods, cups, and other packaging materials.”

Catherine David, director of behaviour change and business programmes WRAP, commented: “The trial with Costa Coffee is a fantastic way to normalise and simplify recycling coffee pods. Due to their multiple component materials, these pods must be sent to a specialist recycling facility. Now, customers can easily drop them off in any participating Costa Coffee store. Making recycling simple is key to success, and capturing trickier items like pods at scale is an important step forward.”

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