Aluminium coffee capsules go to separate collection in Milan

Coffee capsules, the aluminium ones in Milan can already go in the separate waste collection: thanks to a collaboration between the Municipality of Milan, Amsa, A2A Ambiente, Cial (c0nsorzio riciclo imballaggi in alluminio) and Nespresso, they can now be disposed of by citizens in the yellow bag of the light multi-material collection. They will then be collected as usual and sent for recycling thanks to the Muggiano plant, managed by A2A Ambiente.

This was announced on 9 March by Elena Grandi, Councillor for the Environment and Green Areas at the Municipality of Milan, Marcello Milani, CEO of Amsa, Monica Pellegrini, operations manager of Nespresso Italiana, and Francesco Guida, head of materials collection and management at Cial. A communication campaign to introduce the change will also start on 9 March.

The definition of coffee capsules as packaging, and their introduction into separate collection, is one of the new features of the Ppwr, the EU Packaging Regulation, which becomes effective on 12 August 2026. For actual recycling, however, an adaptation of the treatment plants will be necessary.

The start-up for recycling of Milan capsules from the Muggiano plant is now possible thanks to an overall revamping of the plant, completed at the end of 2024, which, among other things, has enhanced the separation of the thinnest and lightest fraction of aluminium packaging, the part that - compared to cans and trays - is more difficult to recover, with lower percentages.

After sorting, recycling involves washing this waste and treating it through pyrolysis, an oxygen-deficient combustion process that could also exploit the syngas that in turn could be produced from the organic fraction represented by the recovered coffee.