Nespresso Recycling Bin Alternative: The Best Way to Store Empty Capsules

How do you store used Nespresso capsules without having them smell? Store them in the freezer with a plastic organizer bin like this one from mDesign. The 12-by-6-inch models fit the perfect amount of capsules for one of the Nespresso recylcing bags.

mDesign Deep Organizer

The perfect Nespresso recycling bin

These plastic organizer bins are the best option for used Nespresso capsules. One full bin fills one Nespresso recycling bag perfectly. It will also fit neatly into most freezers.

The Problem

What do you do with your used Nespresso capsules? Purchase the recycling bin and keep it next to the machine? Another option is to store the used pods in the recycling bag under the sink or somewhere out of sight.

Unfortunately, neither option is sufficient.

Used Nespresso capsules (even the Vertuo capsules) hold a small amount water, which if left alone will develop a sour moldy smell and attract bugs—neither is something you want in your kitchen.

The good news is that this is fairly easy to solve.

The Solution

Keep is to keep your used capsules in the freezer until you’re ready to drop the bag off at UPS or a Nespresso Store.

Initially, I stored them in the recycling bag Nespresso provides. Frequently the plastic cover used to seal the bag would come off and start sicking to other things in my freezer. When that happened we had a few capsule spills, which were annoying to clean. Tiny coffee crumbs were everywhere.

The best solution I’ve found is to take a bin and place it in the freezer. When our Evoluo bin gets full, I open the freezer door and dump it into this mDesign plastic organizer. It’s the perfect size. When that’s full, I dump it into Nespresso’s recycling bag and take it to UPS.

That mDesign bin is perfect, because it fits perfectly in my Whirlpool refrigerator’s freezer and one full bin fills an entire Nespresso recycling bag.


mDesign Deep Organizer

The perfect Nespresso recycling bin

These plastic organizer bins are the best option for used Nespresso capsules. One full bin fills one Nespresso recycling bag perfectly. It will also fit neatly into most freezers.
2 Likes

Oh man, thank you! This post is a lifesaver!

I was about to buy Nespresso’s recycling bin on amazon. There’s no way that thing would have fit in my freezer. I had no idea that the pods would get moldy and gross.

Have you had any issues with the plastic organizer? Think I’m going to go with this approach instead.

1 Like

Yep! I’m still storing my used pods this way.

Wish I would have stumbled across this post before buying. I returned my nespresso recycling bin after about a couple weeks. It was like a cloud of fruit flies around it.

I don’t want to toss the capsules in the trash and I’ve got space in my freezer for a container like the one you linked. Going to give it a shot. Thanks!

1 Like