Earth Day is an annual event on 22 April to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The day aims to raise awareness of the need to protect Earth's natural resources for future generations. And this Earth Day, and every day, Nespresso is reminding South African coffee lovers to give their used Nespresso capsules a second life and participate in Nespresso's global sustainability efforts. Consumers can do this by partaking in the Nespresso South Africa used capsules recycling programme.

Nespresso use aluminium for their capsules protecting your coffee to ensure you get the freshest cup of quality coffee every time. Nespresso capsules are 100% and infinitely recyclable, meaning your coffee capsules start as and become new aluminium products once recycled. Nespresso introduced, for the first time in the coffee market, capsules made using 80% recycled aluminium in May 2020.

As part of Nespresso's commitment to sustainability and a circular economy, Nespresso recycle its used aluminium coffee capsules, and South African coffee consumers can easily play their role in this effort by following steps one and two in the below used capsule recycling process:

1. With every Nespresso order you will receive a recycling bag for your used Nespresso capsules

2. Empty your used aluminium capsules into a Nespresso recycling bag

3. Once the bag is full, hand over your used capsules to our Nespresso courier partner, or drop off your used capsules at your local Nespresso boutique

4. The used capsules are sent to Oricol, Nespresso's local recycling partner in South Africa

5. At the Oricol recycling facility in Johannesburg, the residual coffee grounds and infinitely recyclable aluminium are separated using a customised packaging separation machine developed by Nespresso

6. The used coffee grounds are composted into natural fertiliser to provide a solution that uses food waste to serve as nutrient-rich soil food

7. The separated aluminium undergoes a further recycling process at a steel smelter. It is then reused to make new aluminium products, like art, through collaborations with local artists, bespoke products like the Nespresso and Vélosophy bicycle, the Nespresso recycled Caran d'Ache Pen and of course the aluminium is used to create more Nespresso capsules

Watch this process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ2-lmIyZIQ.

This Earth Day and every day, South African coffee lovers are reminded that when you recycle with Nespresso, the end of the story is just the beginning.

For further details on Nespresso’s broader sustainability efforts, please visit  https://za.buynespresso.com/za_en/our-choices.html and discover the full Positive Cup Report here.