SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): Westchester County has announced a new recycling initiative to offer its residents a simpler way to recover small aluminum items while helping improve the quality of recycled glass.

With Nespresso investing in recycling infrastructure serving the county’s Refuse Disposal District, more than 900,000 residents could now place thier used Nespresso coffee capsules and other small non-ferrous aluminum items in regular curbside recycling bins for disposal and recycling.

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The additional materials will be handled at the Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) Material Recovery Facility, where improved sorting techniques will prevent small metals and other lightweight recyclables from contaminating glass streams. The initiative is expected to increase material recovery, while significantly reducing landfill disposal.

Nespresso Vice President of Operations Melania Luna said the company’s partnership with Westchester County, the Glass Packaging Institute and the Aluminum Association demonstrates how collaboration can make recycling more convenient.

Glass Packaging Institute President Scott DeFife noted that the upgraded recovery equipement is capable of directing small recyclable materials to the appropriate recycling pathways, thus preventing them from entering glass processing streams.

The International Aluminium Institute highlighted the broader significance of capturing aluminum scrap. Nearly 8 million metric tons of aluminum reportedly remain uncollected across the globe every year, it noted.