Forum Topic

Coffee Pod recycling

We have had a leaflet through the door saying that Hounslow now has a coffee pod recycling scheme.It says to sign up for the free service onhounslow.gov.uk/podbackMore information is also available at that address.

Sarah Felstead ● 553d31 Comments

'I recommend a coffee percolator.  Much less faff.'Zero 'faff' with a pod machine.

Susan Kelly ● 543d

I'm mystified as to why the Council should collect M&S customers' soft plastics from the shop - unless it was some sort of experiment in engaging customers in recycling.  I thought the whole point was to avoid as much plastic as possible and also use as little packaging as possible.  I see that more recently M&S moved to paper carriers - perhaps they aren't that keen on still seeing their easy to recognise plastic carrier bags flying from the treetops!  We've got used to taking our own bags shopping now and most big shops have some you can buy just in case you forget.https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sites/marksandspencer/files/sustainability-report-2023.pdf

Philippa Bond ● 543d

Yes, I've also had an electric percolator for years as it was a wedding gift but in more recent years its electrical cable appears to have fallen victim to some over-enthusiastic recycling of electrical items after I let slip the whereabouts of an electrical recycling bank.  This together with miscellaneous cables for unknown gadgets has meant that I have tried to ID all cables with a white correcting fluid pen or sticker.  It's a real pain finding that you can't use a gadget because there is a bit missing and so is searching for replacements.  The cafetiere is much simpler!However I do miss the sound that the percolator makes!

Philippa Bond ● 547d

I recommend a coffee percolator.  Much less faff.

Christopher Shea ● 548d

Maggie  You can keep on doubting as much as you like. Cost effectiveness is most definitely NOT the only consideration.  A lot of work has gone into and is still going into reducing and improving packaging.  Have you not noticed how so little packaging nowadays is made out of mixed materials?  That is deliberate.  Many cardboard and card boxes are now only made out of the one material and can easily be flattened.  That is deliberate.  Remember ring-pulls on aluminium fizzy drinks cans - when did you last see those?  The design has been changed so that they no longer pull right off and whole cans can now be recycled. That is deliberate. Both cans and bottles have lightweighted. Shapes have been altered so that more will fit in a case and into a lorry and as they are therefore lighter to transport - less fuel is needed. That's all deliberate. Some plastic milk bottles no longer have coloured lids so you have to rely on the colour on the label to see what sort of milk it is. This is so all of those bottles can be recycled.  (In the past there was a problem with customers not being so keen on their milk in slightly green bottles as these milk bottles are part of what is called a closed-loop recycling system.)  That too is deliberate. There are all sorts of laws, rules and regulations re packaging and as there is continuous innovation - making and dealing with it can and will continue to go on changing. Unfortunately some companies are more resistant to any change than others - particularly when they claim their packaging is 'iconic'.  However that often seems to be more iconic to them themselves than to anyone else!There used to be a list of the companies fined for not having declared the amount of packaging their companies are producing and this could be found on the internet. There may well still be.

Philippa Bond ● 548d

Philippa, do you seriously think manufacturers aren’t the experts on packaging? They make choices for a number of reasons, often cost effectiveness. Although you think you’re the expert I doubt you could teach them anything, with their vast resources

Maggie Dodge ● 548d

Recycling most pods is a faff - separating the foil, plastic and, of course, the grounds. Far easier to just buy 100% recyclable pods - e.g. Grind brand- and put the whole thing in your food caddy.

Adam Farndell ● 548d

Apart from choosing to buy things that last longer and create less packaging and waste you can also write or email or tweet the manufacturer of something pointing out when and where there is difficulty in recycling or composting their packaging or goods.  If you know or have used a better solution then why not let them know - constructive criticism  is always better.Only do do this make a copy of what you write as it is far too easy to find all your precious time and hard effort wasted by putting it onto a manufacturer's website where it can just disappear into a black hole.  If you have a copy eg a screen shot you can re-send it by another method with less effort if you receive no response.

Philippa Bond ● 548d

It's all about heading for more Extended Producer Responsibility:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging-who-is-affected-and-what-to-doso that packaging is not put on the market that can't be recycled.Of course you can always avoid a lot of it which means that you don't have to recycle or otherwise dispose of it.

Philippa Bond ● 549d

Whilst on the subject of miscellaneous recycling:• old biros and pens > rymans• light bulbs > ikea hammersmithMore ...What about timber recycling?

Jim Lawes ● 549d

We use podback all the time easy, excellent service

Jayne Thorburn ● 549d

The OP suggests that Hounslow Council has taken the initiative to introduce this latest recycling improvement.Is that so?There are so many shortcomings in the Borough's information and education about local recycling it's gauling.M&S w4 doesn't take back your soft grocery plastics these days as the Council failed to collect it.And that's just for starters!

Jim Lawes ● 549d

For clarity is is Podback who are extending their service by adding Hounslow to their list of recycling partners. Anyone who uses coffee pods might as well give it a try.

Bruce Hammal ● 549d

If they stopped manufacturing things we shouldn’t be using life would be so much simpler

Maggie Dodge ● 550d

You are all so out of date we have been recycling our pods for years check out podback.org we don’t need to waste precious council money on this, please people stop expecting the council to fix all the not important world issues. BTW it’s free

Jayne Thorburn ● 550d

My recycling bags arrived today so I'm good to go.

Susan Kelly ● 550d

I think the French idea of supporting people to use repairers and thereby supporting repairers many of whom have gained considerable skill and knowledge and satisfaction in doing this.  I love it when there are requests and suggestions on here for help in finding places and the right people with these skills - sometimes great but also sometimes because replacement of a whole item just for one small part or something just not working smoothly and/or too fiddly for the owners to do themselves can be found.  Or sometimes just where replacement parts can be and how to fit them can be found.I am particularly irritated by kettles where the water filter fails!Reuse and mending and alteration of clothing is very important.  BBC's Sewing Bee has been brilliant on this and we need to make sure  children can sew on buttons, hem and make small alterations now that clothes aren't all made to measure!  We also need to learn to cherish snd look after our clothes as they cost the environment a lot more than we pay for them!  The Atacama desert apparently has mountains of imported and unwanted clothes dumped on it.Much less natural fibre is now used in clothing.At this time of year there should be more collections of unwanted coats and other warm clothing that can be distributed to those who need them.

Philippa Bond ● 550d

The best way to recycle a pod is to not use one in the first place.What's wrong with a hob espresso pot or a cafetiere?I use either one of those and get a good cup of coffee.

Keith Iddon ● 552d

My mother knew which ones to pick - I don't.  I find it intriguing that mushrooms seem to be grown in the dark and yet are a good source of Vitamin D which we lack if we don't get enough exposure to the sun.

Philippa Bond ● 552d

But do those mushrooms taste like proper mushrooms, Philippa? I mean those mushrooms you pick yourself, in the fields, and not the pitiful things we're conned with on the stalls and in the shops.

Roger Talbot ● 552d

I have been using one of these for decades now.No more filters and coffee grounds go on the compost heap.https://www.anothercoffee.co.uk/products/item110314.aspxEach to his own.

Marlene Plimley ● 552d

I remember some years ago reading about a firm collecting coffee grounds from cafes to use to grow mushrooms commercially...  I think you can get kits now.

Philippa Bond ● 552d

https://www.treehugger.com/ways-to-reuse-coffee-grounds-tea-leaves-4864144#:~:text=Use%20coffee%20grounds%20as%20mulch,they%20add%20to%20the%20soil.&text=Sprinkle%20coffee%20grounds%20around%20areas%20of%20ant%20infestation%20to%20deter%20them.If it makes it easier for you to collect this valuable metal for reuse - why not go for it?!

Philippa Bond ● 552d

Lol. I've got a cafetiere but actually prefer tea - and tea bags have their problems too!  Family have a machine they have to keep feeding coffee pods to - they are irritatingly fiddly to remove coffee from.Coffee grounds are good for the garden (as are tea leaves). Ericaceous (acid soil loving) plants  - camellias, blueberries and roses and more will thank you for them.Aluminium is light and incredibly easy to recycle  - again and again and again and is often forgotten - but some of it can be less easy to collect.  Coffee pods are easier to define as aluminium.  Remember the metallic shiny plastic film which fails the scrunch test ISN'T aluminium!

Philippa Bond ● 552d

Aren't they aluminium which is linked to Alzheimer's I believe.

Janice Evans ● 552d

I've set up my account and eagerly await my bags.

Susan Kelly ● 552d

That is France. There are quite a few other ways in which they take the environment seriously and support their citizens in making the transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. But our wonky isles follow a different path.

Paul Campbell ● 552d

I've never understood why do people even bother with coffee pods?  A cafetiere makes better, cheaper coffee and quicker if its for 2 people or more.  And much better for the environment.

Nik Solomon ● 552d

I wonder about recycling and this goverment serious. For example we send lots of clothes to landfill etc. If you have your shoes repaied or clothes repaired the goverment does not contribute to these repairs. However one Eupepean government now gives the person having the repair €7 for a heel repair and €10-24 for a clothing repair. This of course supports these repair businesses as well.

Nicholas Beard ● 552d

Oh, good, because it's been a pain heretofore.

Susan Kelly ● 553d

….I can hear Philippa singing her heart out! … ;) x

Sarah Felstead ● 553d