Los Angeles-based Gaviña Coffee Co., makers of Don Francisco’s Coffee, Café La Llave, and other family-crafted coffees announced another recycling milestone just ahead of Earth Day (April 22). 

The company has recycled more than 2 million used coffee bags, single-serve coffee pods and espresso capsules through its Coffee Bag and Pod Free Recycling Program with global recycling company TerraCycle. If all those items were stacked together, they would reach a height equal to 226 Empire State Buildings and the recycled material can be used to create 396 park benches.

“Our loyal customers have made this 2 million plus coffee pods and bags recycling milestone possible,” said Lisette Gaviña Lopez, fourth generation coffee roaster at Gaviña Coffee Co., in a statement. “While we know that there is still more work to be done, we are proud of this achievement and hope it serves to encourage more coffee consumers to make small but meaningful contributions towards a more sustainable future.”

Since the Coffee Bag and Pod Free Recycling Program launched in 2020, it has provided consumers a free and easy way to recycle used coffee pods and capsules from two Gaviña Coffee Co. brands, Don Francisco’s Coffee and Café La Llave. Also, later this month the company will add its Costco-exclusive brand Jose’s Gourmet Coffee bags to the program.

To date, through the dedication of the more than 6,600 participants, TerraCycle has recycled more than 2.3 million coffee pods and bags, totaling more than 57,000 pounds of recycled material that is used to create new products like playgrounds and park benches. The Recycling Program also gives participants the opportunity to donate to select charitable institutions based on points earned for recycling.

“Reaching this major recycling milestone reinforces the fact that consumers are eager to make the world and the coffee industry greener,” said TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky in a statement. “With the Coffee Bag and Pod Free Recycling Program, coffee connoisseurs can set simple resolutions to recycle more single-serve pods and capsules and reduce the amount of trash sent to incinerators and landfills.”

Recycling bags, pods, and capsules can be done in four steps: register at terracycle.com/gavina, collect used packaging, print prepaid labels, and mail the collected waste to TerraCycle.

The Coffee Bag and Pod Free Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization. It also gives participants the opportunity to donate to select charitable institutions based on points earned for recycling.