Keurig misled the general public over claims its Okay-Cup pods are 100% recyclable, the SEC says

Packing containers of Inexperienced Mountain Keurig espresso Okay-Cup pods are noticed on show at a Goal retailer. The Securities and Trade Fee has introduced that they’re charging Keurig Dr Pepper over erroneous claims made by means of the corporate in regards to the recyclability of its disposable Okay-Cup pods.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs

Keurig has agreed to pay $1.5 million in consequences after the Securities and Trade Fee charged the corporate with making deceptive statements about simply how recyclable its widespread Okay-Cup single-use espresso pods are. Questions over whether or not the single-use, hard-to-recycle plastic Keurig Okay-Cups are environmentally pleasant have hovered over the corporate for years. A peer-reviewed paper from 2021 discovered that espresso pods account for extra emissions than different ways of constructing espresso, as a result of greenhouse gases comprised of generating the packaging and from the following waste. For sure shoppers, environmental issues had been a significant component in deciding whether or not or to not acquire a Keurig gadget, the SEC mentioned in its findings. In 2019, the sale of Okay-Cups in addition to the Keurig brewing gadget accounted for an important chew of the corporate’s gross sales.

The Keurig web site says (with an asterisk), nonetheless as of Thursday morning, that for the reason that finish of 2020 that 100% of Okay-Cup pods were recyclable. That, the SEC has discovered, is deceptive.

Keurig advised traders throughout the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years that the corporate’s checking out with recycling amenities “validate[d] that [K-Cup pods] can also be successfully recycled,” the SEC mentioned. That declare ignored a significant caveat: Two of the rustic’s biggest recycling corporations, which function greater than one-third of recycling amenities within the nation, expressed “vital damaging comments” over the product’s recyclability and expressed that they did not intend to simply accept pods for recycling. A spokesperson with Keurig Dr Pepper mentioned in a commentary to NPR, “We’re happy to have reached an settlement that totally resolves this subject.” The company has agreed to pay the fines with out admitting or denying the SEC findings. The commentary persevered, “Our Okay-Cup pods are constructed from recyclable polypropylene plastic (often referred to as #5 plastic), which is broadly accredited in curbside recycling programs throughout North The us. We proceed to inspire shoppers to test with their native recycling program to make sure acceptance of pods, as they don’t seem to be recycled in lots of communities. We stay dedicated to a greater, extra standardized recycling gadget for all packaging fabrics thru KDP movements, collaboration and sensible coverage answers.”

Author: OpenAI