My office has a big bin for recycling coffee pods (van houtte, keurig…) wondering how they get recycled? Thanks
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The generic recycling skeptic comments in here are not helpful.
OP, as long is everyone in the chain from your office to the final recycler is being truthful (see footnote), the pods are recycled simply by someone paying a dedicated program to do so.
Many not-commonly-recycled materials are actually physically recyclable, but something else stops it from happening. Maybe it’s not profitable, requires really specialized equipment, has QC issues, etc. Bespoke recycling programs are able to get around these hurdles because someone is paying them to do so. Nespresso might foot the bill because of the good PR, your office might foot the bill because of some kind of company values thing, etc.
TL;DR – recycling hurdles are sometimes monetary or logistics related, not technical. Bespoke recycling programs provide money to get around these issues.
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Footnote – I added that disclaimer because the chain of trust could break at a few points. Your office could lie to make themselves look good (they actually dump the things in the trash). Whatever provider they send the pods to might be lying about sending the pods to a constructive place (maybe they actually just warehouse everything). The final recycler could lie about how much material they recover (maybe it’s an abysmal rate of recovery).
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