Keurig fined $3 million for misleading claims regarding recycling of K-CUPs

NEW YORK - Jan. 30, 2022 - PRLog -- The bureau released a statement Thursday saying that the company reached an agreement to pay the fine and donate $800,000 to an environmental charity. It also paid $85,000 for expenses incurred by the Competition Bureau.

Keurig reached an agreement to settle a class action suit in the United States regarding the same issue last month.
The Competition Bureau investigated the company for claims that its single-use plastic beverage containers could be recycled if the lid was removed and any contents, such as coffee grounds, emptied.

The Bureau stated that the K-Cups can't be accepted in all provinces except Quebec and British Columbia. Also, the instructions are not sufficient to allow cities to accept them in a recycling program.

Keurig Canada must also change its packaging and publish notices on its websites, social media, and in local and nation media outlets. It must also include the information in the packaging of new Keurig brewing equipment and send an email to its subscribers.

"Portraying products and services as having greater environmental benefits than they really have is an illegal practice here in Canada," Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, stated in a statement.

False or misleading claims made by businesses in order to promote "greener" products can harm consumers who are unable make informed buying decisions.

Cynthia Shanks is the senior director of communications and sustainability at Keurig Canada. She stated in an email that three years ago, Keurig changed its pods to use the plastic most commonly accepted by Canadian recycling programs.

She said that many people still don't accept K-Cups.

Shanks stated, "As we continue to work with municipalities and industry to increase K-Cup pod recycle acceptance, we've been evolving communications with consumers to share the pods' recyclable status in select communities and remind them about the proper steps to recycle."

"The agreement with Canada's Competition Bureau will enhance our communications. We remind consumers to check if K-Cup pods (https://kcupsforsale.com/k-cup-brands/green-mountain-coff...) have been accepted into their municipal recycling program, and if not, to take any additional steps to prepare the pods to be recycled."

Companies cannot make misleading or false claims about their products under the Competition Act. The Competition Bureau warned companies five years ago that "greenwashing", their products, is illegal in Canada.

The 2017 statement states that "The Competition Act targets environmental claims that are vague or non-specific, incomplete, irrelevant, and that cannot be supported by verifiable testing methods."

This report was published by The Canadian Press Jan. 6, 2022.