In terms of recycling, Nespresso has been a catalyst for change in favour of recovery and valorisation of the raw materials used in coffee capsules. We have urged governments to adopt legislation allowing capsule recycling, by bringing industry stakeholders together to boost technological and legal changes regarding the responsible aluminium acquisition and its recovery later on, and by developing recycling solutions where national waste treatment solutions do not include used capsules. Simultaneously, Nespresso has created about 14,000 collection points in more than 30 countries.
In the Swiss market, for example, capsule recycled aluminium was used to manufacture Victorinox knives, and a pilot program is being development to transform used capsules into new ones. We have also added value to coffee grounds by integrating them into the creation of nutrient-rich organic and farming compounds, or biogas.
In Portugal we have launched the Recycling@home project that will allow us to collect used capsules in a more convenient and comfortable way to our customers, that is to say, we will collect used capsules upon delivery. Already implemented in 15 countries, we believe this is a good solution to increase collection of used capsules.
This measure will work additionally to our currently available network of 280 capsule collection points, spread throughout the country, including collection at Boutiques and Points of Sale, among others.
In addition, we developed a large incentive project to encourage our customers to participate in their coffee capsule recycling called "Reciclar é Alimentar" (Recycling is Feeding), consisting in Nespresso capsule collection for recycling and subsequent use of coffee grounds for rice fields fertilization. Since the project's inception in 2010 we have been able to deliver 386 tons of rice to the Food Bank.
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