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Recycling, what else?
R e c o v e r i n g u s e d a l u m i n i u m c o f f e e c a p s u l e s w i t h S w i s s p re c i s i o n
Swiss Barec Group is mostly known for its activities in car and paper recycling. But the company also runs an
advanced facility to process used aluminium coffee capsules. Its success is due, not least, to Switzerland’s efficient
postal system, as Barec’s Roger Blesi explains.
For the latest in coffee capsule recy-
cling, Moudon near Lausanne,
Switzerland is the place to visit. Just
outside the city centre, Barec Group
operates a modern plant which, con-
sidering the smell, could well be a
coffee roasting facility.
Managing director Roger Blesi
explains: ‘Every aluminium coffee
capsule used by either Swiss house-
The plant can handle 15 000 tonnes of capsules per year.
A U T H O R | P H O T O Martijn Reintjes
Roger Blesi: ‘Swiss Aluminium Capsule Recycling (SACR) targets to reach 75% recycling rate in the years to come.’
holds, in offices, hotels and restau-
rants, and then collected, is shredded
here.’
MAJOR INVESTMENT
The plant was opened in 2023 but had
been handling used aluminium coffee
capsules long before that. ‘In
Switzerland we have been recycling
capsules since the early 90s,’ says
Blesi. ‘You could argue we’re the
experts.’
The new facility replaces the old
plant, which was outdated and lost
in a fire a couple of years ago. The
Swiss Aluminium Coffee Capsule
Recycling organisation, supported
by big coffee brands, invested
ChF 3 million (EUR 3.2 million) in the
facility.
WATER AND COFFEE GROUNDS
Material is brought in by trucks carry-
ing 40 cubic metre containers full of
capsules collected all over Switzerland.
They enter the two lines plant to be
sorted, dried and shredded. ‘Mind
you, 50% of the weight of a capsule is
water, so the drying process is a big
thing,’ notes Blesi. The hot air drying
process runs on renewable heat from a
nearby biogas plant.
Apart from the water, the capsules
contain aluminium, plastic and coffee
grounds which are all separated and
recycled. The site handles roughly 700
tonnes of capsules per month. The
plant’s total capacity is 15 000 tonnes.
IF WE HADN’T HAD THE MILK
BOX…
Switzerland has one of the the highest
20-21_businesscoffeecapsulerecycling.indd 20 29-01-2025 16:31
