Coffee pod recycling in Norfolk

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Back in the Spring, I asked Norfolk County Council about options for coffee-pod recycling in Norfolk. I received the following reply. I’ve checked in again for an update:

The last time the Norfolk Waste Partnership (that’s the body that brings all the eight Norfolk councils together on waste and recycling) looked at coffee pod recycling with Podback it was in the context of the district councils trialling a kerbside collection scheme, not via the County Council recycling centres. That was in 2022 and I’ve asked for an update from the Norfolk Waste Partnership officers on that and I’ll let you know when I have the latest.

I’ve also raised it with the officer leading the County Council’s recycling centre service, and as we are just about to roll out a vape return service at recycling centres we’ll learn what we can from that roll out and if suitable add in return points for additional items where it make sense (considering things like space required, demand, volume, reliability of partners, lack of alternatives etc). We’ve already done this for books and CD return points and I’ll make sure that coffee pods are considered too and that will include speaking to other County Councils that have this option, to seek their insights and learn from their experiences as well.

In addition I’ve spoken to a colleague about recycling credits, which are payments that the County Council makes to groups (including Parish Councils) that collect materials for recycling (such as paper, glass or textiles). And whilst this item would be eligible for that process (it requires participants to be registered and submit evidence to receive the credit) the payments would probably be relatively small, but only because the scheme is weight based for the payments made and these items are fairly light in weight unless collected in large volumes.

And these items are a problem for recycling, as they are made of a mix of materials. That is why they aren’t collected with other recyclable items and why the producers encourage direct return using a Podback bag, either:

  • direct to local stores like Morrisons, Costa or Asda
  • or doorstep collection
  • drop off at Royal Mail locations

And you can find more information on local options here: Recycle Checker | Podback as this route and the drop off options may prove the most convenient for many.