The landmark UVic law team makes a decision about plastic coffee pods

plastic coffee pods

The Competition Bureau has fined Keurig Canada Inc the coffee pods giant $3 million. The Competition Bureau has fined Keurig Canada Inc. $3 million.

Three years ago, Calvin Sandborn met with Margaret Atwood to write an article calling for a federal plastics strategy. He never dreamed it would result in a $3 million fine against Keurig Canada Inc. or a landmark decision regarding false advertising of environmental products.

 

K Cups Coffee pods
K Cups Coffee pods

Sandborn, who is the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre’s legal director, was sent a letter by Keurig Canada’s president a day after the article had been published. It stated that Keurig Canada was a leader in sustainable design and that all K-Cup pods made in Canada would be re-usable by 2018.

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Sandborn was intrigued by the letter when he received it. He was interested in the company’s advertisements, which claimed that Keurig single-use plastic drink pods could be reused if they were removed from the metal lid and the coffee grounds emptied.

Sandborn said, “I just felt that the cardboard box with Keurig pods in my faculty room wasn’t the right environmental solution.”

He and his team at Environmental Law Centre investigated the issue and submitted a Report to the Competition Bureau in May 2019. Their report found that Keurig’s advertising regarding the recyclability its coffee pods was both misleading and was causing serious harm to all recycling efforts in the country.

The Competition Bureau reached an agreement on Thursday. It announced that Keurig will be paying a $3-million penalty because it made misleading and false claims about the recycling potential of its single-use K-Cup containers. The company also agreed that it would make a donation of $800,000 to an environmental charity and reimburse $85,000 for Competition Bureau expenses.

Sandborn stated that the Competition Bureau’s decision was very pleasing to her. This is fantastic. It may open up new tools for environmental protection. If corporations try to manipulate consumers, we won’t be able to protect the environment. If consumers have the facts, they can make informed choices about their environment.

The pods could not be recycled in Canada, according to the investigation. The pods were not recyclable in Calgary, Edmonton and Hamilton as well as Saskatoon, Regina. St. John’s. Toronto, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon.

According to a report from Toronto’s solid waste department, the pods are problematic for the recycling system. Toronto recycling authorities specifically identified Keurig’s advertising as harmful and not beneficial to their recycling programs.

Sandborn said that the Toronto official stated, “Basically, this is costing us hundreds and thousands of dollars to remove these items from our recycling system. With real damage being done through these ads.”

In Quebec and British Columbia, the pods can be recycled. However, first remove the top and wash out the plastic. Single-use coffee pods can be recycled in the Capital Regional District once the top has been removed and the coffee grounds are removed.

According to the CRD website, “Never use single-serve coffee pods to enjoy your coffee.” Instead, brew your coffee in a traditional coffee maker. Single-use coffee pods can have a major negative impact on the environment.

Keurig’s ad showed a man in handcuffs dumping the coffee grounds into the trash and the pod into a blue container.

Sandborn stated, “If you do this, you contaminate our recycling system.” It’s misleading to claim that you didn’t need to wash the pods and remove the metal covers. It’s not enough to just toss the pods in one direction. It is not easy. It is much more difficult to recycle this than to make a cup of coffee in the regular way using a reusable filter.

According to the law center’s report, the company knew that critics of the impact of coffee pods on the environment were threatening its brand. In 2015, Keurig’s annual reports warned that the company could fail to meet its sustainability targets. This included the development and introduction, prior to 2020, of a recyclable K-Cup pod. Consumers may lose faith in the brand, and our commitment to sustainability and our brand might be compromised.

It launched its campaign in 2016, stating that the K-Cups were easily recyclable throughout Canada.

Sandborn stated, “That’s why they got fined $3,000,000.”

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.