by InTrieste
In Friuli Venezia Giulia, the city of Trieste is expanding an effort to recycle one of the fastest-growing household waste items: single-use plastic coffee capsules.
Local officials announced this week that more than 20 dedicated street containers are being installed across the city, allowing residents to dispose of used capsules outside traditional collection centers. The move makes Trieste the first city in Italy to introduce a widespread street-level collection system for this type of waste.
The initiative is part of the RECAP project, launched in 2021 by the municipality, the local utility AcegasApsAmga, and corporate partners including illycaffè and Nestlé.
Coffee capsules cannot be processed through conventional recycling because they combine plastic and organic residue. Under the program, collected pods are sent to a specialized facility where materials are separated: plastic is recycled, and the spent coffee is treated and reused as an agricultural soil improver.
Until now, residents could drop off capsules only at four municipal collection centers. Officials said the expansion into street containers reflects strong public participation since the pilot phase began and aims to make disposal easier.
Only loose plastic capsules are accepted; aluminum or compostable pods must be disposed of separately. The full network of collection points is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
