PodCut™– Nespresso Coffee Pods Recycling Tool

I have been drinking coffee for decades. No matter how the preference of making coffee changes from time to time, such as Moka pot, filter hanging, French press, and dripping, there will still be a Nespresso coffee machine at home. When I am lazy, I can simply put a capsule into the machine and immediately enjoy a cup of high-quality coffee. I choose the machine that is compatible with Nespresso’s original line. Because the variety of coffee flavors has increasing in recent years. In supermarket, it is not uncommon to find a whole cabinet of coffee capsules from different brands which is compatible with Nespresso’s original capsules. 

Open used pods, recycle the capsules for a better world

What to do with the used coffee pods?

But, what to do with the used coffee pods? Nespresso suggests two ways of recycling. First, bringing them to Nespresso’s store or dedicated collecting spot. Second, ship them to Nespresso. Ideally, it sounds good. But, practically speaking, only some people will bring them to store and very few people will ship them. Most of my friends just throw them into the normal trash bin. Occasionally, one the road, I saw a bunch of used capsules falling out from a broken garbage bag.

From the variety of options of pod in a supermarket, wondering how large the quantity people consume? 

Nespresso original coffee pods are shiny at store. Aren't they?

I used to process used pods by using utility knife and spoon.

For me, over the years, I always took a utility knife and a spoon to do recycle. Cutting the aluminum foil cover one by one with the utility knife, scooping out the coffee grounds from the pod with a spoon, and taking the aluminum shell and the foil cover together into the recycling bin of metal. Usually, it takes me a lot of time.

When coffee pods are done, where have they gone? 

The recycling rate of used aluminum capsules is only about 30%

Because making aluminum capsules consumes a lot of energy and the recycled aluminum can be reused almost 100%, also the energy consumption of the used aluminum pods is about 1/20 of the original pods. Nespresso has been promoting the recycling of aluminum pods (taking it in the store or mail it to them), but after so many years, according to the information published by Nespresso ( refer to here ), the overall recycling rate of aluminum capsules is still only about 30%, and it seems that the rate is difficult to go further. That means the majority of Nespresso’s user just throwing the used pods away.

The very first time you imagine recycling a used coffee pod, did you try to cut the it open?

Why are Nespresso’s measures not working for everyone?

I guess not everyone is willing to take their used capsules to a Nespresso store or mail them back to Nespresso for recycling, because it is not intuitive, it needs to be done deliberately, and it will create another unnecessary carbon footprint.

 

And the reasons that Nespresso does not encourage recycling used pods at home could be:

1. There are still coffee grounds in the used capsules. Most recyclers will not accept that there is still food residual in them, which will increase the cost and difficulty of recycling. Therefore, Nespresso officials need to deal with used pods by themselves.
 
2. Encouraging customers to bring used pods to the store for recycling which provides Nespresso a recurrent customer traffic that would increase the sales.


Why not recycling used coffee pods at home under existing recycle framework?

Indeed, we can find some tools in the market which is designed for recycling Nespresso’s aluminum coffee pods. 

The most popular one in the market is the kind that pushing out the coffee grounds from the bottom of the pods. That kind of product is composed of several plastic parts and the size is usually big which is not ideal for small kitchen. The processed pods can only be recycled and cannot be used for other purposes such as art decorations.

What I want is a simple and tough tool like those in the kitchen’s drawer that does not take up too many spaces, and can effectively improve the efficiency of recycling Nespresso coffee pods.

New option: PodCut

Finally, from 2022, there is a new option in the market. PodCut is designed to solve the problem of recycling Nespresso’s pods at home.

Now Try PodCut on your used coffee pods!

The first impression of PodCutTM is “strange”. It looks so weird. But, it also brings curiosity to people. People want to know know how it works.

It is very easy to use, only four steps:

Step 1: Push it

Pushing the pods toward the plate of PodCut.

Simply lay the pod and PodCut together, slight push onto it

Step 2: Twist it

Twisting PodCut and pods in different direction. The small cutting blade will cut the cover of pods perfectly.

Twist !

 

Step 3: Scoop out

Using the spoon of PodCut to scoop out the coffee grounds of pods.

Open the sealed lid of pod in a breeze

 

Step 4: Recycle it

Wala, now, in just few seconds, we already separate the coffee grounds and the aluminum case. They are ready to be recycled.

Dig and scoop!

Almost Clean

All steps are quite safe. Even kids can do this job. 

Sometimes the aluminum foil cover will stuck in the PodCut, no problem, you can simply push it out from the hole of PodCut.

Now pods are ready to go to recycling bin!

Ingenuity in the design of PodCut

The more I use the more I understand that how well it is designed. 

The highlights are:

1. It is small.

It is small so you do not need to find a specific place to store it, just put it in the drawer under the kitchen countertop.

PodCut is so small that won't take much of your kitchen space

2. Bright colors are used

Colors of PodCut are bright (red, blue, green) so they are easy to be found in the drawer.

Green, Blue and Red

2. Light weight and sturdy

PodCut only weighs about 15 grams, but thanks to the material of ABS (the same as LEGO), so it is very sturdy, making it effortless to operate.

3. Comfortable to hold

The arc-shaped holding part of PodCut making it extremely comfortable to hold and operate in the palm. Even kids can easily operate it and do the recycle for the adults.

As easy as holding a door knob

4. The cutting blades are integrally formed and are placed in the groove of the PodCut.

There are four integrally formed triangular arc-shaped cutting pieces in the disc, which are thorny to the touch, but because they are placed in the groove of the disc, they will not be touched easily when they are held in the hand. In addition to safety, this design also increases the life span of the product.

The blades are hiding in the disc. Safe. 

5. The hole

There is a hole in the middle of this disc. At first glance, I thought it was designed to be convenient for hanging on the wall or to save materials. After using it for many pods, I realized it was so ingenious! Sometimes the aluminum foil case will get stuck on the cutting disc, when it happens you can gently push it out of the disc through the hole with your fingers. How convenient is it?

The sealed lid will be keep on the disc, push it out

6. Beveled edge design, easy for the capsule to slide into the chassis

There is a beveled edge surrounding the inward side of the groove of the disc. This design makes it super easy to align the pods into the right position of PodCut. 

 

7. The Spoon

A spoon attached to the cutting chassis, so that after cutting the aluminum foil cover, the action of digging out the coffee grounds can be done in one go, no need to change tool. And the size of the spoon is just right, not too big, not too small.

Pod Cutter Is Now Available on Amazon: 

USA:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5G9T1HB?ref=myi_title_dp

 

Australia : 

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0B87YL3XH?ref=myi_title_dp

 

 UK :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C8MK6N44?ref=myi_title_dp

 

France：

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0C9BGHMXB?ref=myi_title_dp

 

Japan：

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0B87YL3XH?ref=myi_title_dp

  

Italy：

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0C8MK6N44?ref=myi_title_dp