Recycling Bags for used Nespresso® capsules made in plastic from renewable sources

“A cup of coffee with a positive impact” 

Committed to its sustainable development mission, Nespresso® has defined a target of being 100% capable of collecting used aluminium capsules up to 2020, with the goal of increasing its recycling rates. On the other side, the company’s environmental concerns would have to be taken into account for this.

In the scope of project Recycling@home, Nespresso® Portugal challenged us to create a comfortable, convenient solution that would make the capsule gathering process easier while considering the brand’s sustainable responsibilities.

We wanted to provide an environmentally sustainable solution without compromising quality, easiness of use, waterproofing, recyclability and main purpose (capsule collection bag). This way, we decided to use “green” plastic obtained from renewable sources as a raw material.

The green plastic or green polyethylene (green PE) is a plastic made from sugar cane. This plant absorbs atmosphere CO2 while growing, therefore contributing to the decrease of the greenhouse effect, because it is absorbing carbon dioxide instead of emitting.

After analysing this material’s life cycle, we observed that for each kg of green plastic used in the manufacture of this bag we are preventing the emission of over 4,5 kg of CO2 to the atmosphere.

The challenge was met! Nespresso® now has a recyclable, waterproof bag for capsule collection that contributes to the decrease of the carbon print and use of fossil resources!