Extract from ABC News
Coffee pods are often made from a mix of materials, making recycling the 3 million coffee pods drunk in Australia each day more complex. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)
In short:
At least 80 per cent of used coffee pods in Australia end up in landfill, with no dedicated recycling scheme.
One Australian has made upcycling pods a business model, while not-for-profit Planet Ark seeks to unite producers with a solution.
What's next?
The PodCycle program hopes to launch across further locations in 2026, making it easier for more pod users to recycle.
For many caffeine enthusiasts, coffee pods are the shortcut to a cup of brew at home, and offer a cheaper option than buying from a cafe.
Coffee pods were launched in Australia in the 90s, and an estimated 3 million are now used across the country each day.
Between 10 and 20 per cent of used pods are estimated to be recycled, meaning waste is mounting, and thousands of tonnes of single-use pods that cannot be easily recycled are relegated to landfill.
Designer Lizzie Burscough has been doing her part to curb waste for the last six years by upcycling the shells of used pods into colourful earrings.
In a quiet studio, Ms Burscough is working on her own piece of the waste puzzle. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
She said she did not initially set out to find a solution to the waste issue.
"I saw [the used coffee pods], and I just wondered," she said.
The curiosity has spurred an effort that has diverted about 40,000 coffee pods away from landfill.
"I can use the entire pod, everything except the seal that gets perforated," Ms Burscough said.
"It's always tweaked my brain to repurpose things … some ideas land, and this one really landed," she said.
Coffee pods from differing brands and varieties are being upcycled into earrings. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
The process is fairly simple, with a growing list of contributors — friends, former clients of the ex-hairdresser or strangers found on social media — now collecting their pods to contribute.
Utilising postage bags paid for by Ms Burscough, the pods are posted to an employee on the Gold Coast who empties and composts the coffee grinds, washes and "bashes" the shell flat before posting them to the artist.
"It's quite streamlined … and people really like the story, I do get stopped in the street and have people say 'I like your earrings', and so you can start this whole conversation," she said.
Coffee grounds are removed from the used pod before the material is flattened to create the earrings base. (Supplied: Lizzie Burscough)
"People are a lot more conscious of sustainability now compared to when I started. It's a good talking point."
Time and labour-intensive to recycle
In their standard form, coffee pods cannot be thrown into yellow-lidded recycling bins.
The coffee grounds can contaminate recycling in kerbside bins, and the size of the pod means they fall through cracks at recycling centres.
Tiziana Ferrero-Regis from the Queensland University of Technology's School of Design said the composition of the pod also makes things difficult.
"Coffee pods, capsules, single serve, whatever we want to call them, they're mostly non-recyclable or made from a mix of materials … polylaminate, aluminium, plastic," she said.
Ms Ferrero-Regis says producers should take more responsibility for their waste. (ABC News: Emily Dobson)
"These three layers need to be separated by hand, so it's time and labour consuming."
Asking the average coffee drinker — many of whom use pods for convenience — to peel back their used pods layer by layer is not likely to generate results, Ms Ferrero-Regis said.
"When we ask [people] to do the right thing, we always go to consumers … and that is like us being responsible for saving the planet, it's a big ask."
Coffee grounds need to be removed from the lining of a used pod before hand-recycling can begin, Ms Ferrero-Regis says. (Supplied)
Rather, she said, consumers tend to take the easier option, with many pods thrown in the standard waste bin of homes without a second thought.
"Producers need to be getting back their own waste. It's a much more complex problem than just the consumer doing the right thing," she said.
Product stewardship 'key'
The concept of taking responsibility for a product at all stages of life, including waste — known as product stewardship — is an innovation some companies have embraced.
Big brands have jumped on board schemes like paid-postage bags and corporate drop-boxes to drive down the waste generated by products sold.
Australian not-for-profit organisation Planet Ark aims to create a circular economy, ensuring products have minimal waste and somewhere to go at the "end of life".
As part of the Planet Ark led scheme, used pods are processed at a dedicated facility. (Supplied: Nestlé Australia)
Sitting between government, industry and consumer, Planet Ark acts as a guide to improve outcomes. Head of Product Stewardship Beau Boundy said this was the "key" to actually curbing waste.
"All of the major producers of coffee pods are trying to do the right thing … but they need a system to bring [used pods] together, to collect and process them into other materials so they can stay in the circular economy," he said.
"The efficiencies of having one system really can't be underrated … the more [producers] that face the same direction, the cheaper the scheme becomes."
Mr Boundy said Planet Ark has guided market share players in the coffee pod industry into a united coffee pod product stewardship scheme.
Beau Boundy says the PodCycle scheme is able to capitalise on the good work already been done by producers to get their waste back. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)
The scheme, known as PodCycle, has been run on a trial basis since 2024 in specific locations in Victoria and New South Wales where coffee pods of all brands can be collected and recycled.
In 2026, organisers are planning to launch the scheme more broadly.
"That is the hope; there is certainly a lot of moving parts here. We've collected 55,000 pods via that system … at the moment, is more about the proof of that system working, so that is can be scaled up," Mr Boundy said.
More than 50,000 pods have been captured as part of the trial, which hopes to expand it's service in 2026. (Supplied: Nestlé Australia)
Until then, it is hoped that pointing consumers in the right direction will help to change consumers from dumping coffee pod waste in kerbside bins.
"We all need to work together … to make sure that clear messaging is out there on how to keep these materials in the circular economy and out of landfill," he said.
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