Keurig Canada Agrees to Pay $3M Penalty Over False Recyclability Claims

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Keurid Dr. Pepper Canada announced that it has reached a settlement with Canada’s Competition Bureau over allegations of false and misleading claims made by it over the recyclability of single-use K-Cups. In addition, the company has also reached a settlement in a lawsuit challenging its recyclability claims in the U.S. However, the terms of agreement have not been disclosed.

Accordingly, the company will pay a fine of CAD$ 3 million. Apart from the fine, the company has also agreed to donate $631,000 to a Canadian charitable environmental organization and additional $67,000 towards covering the cost of investigation.

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The Canadian Competition Bureau, in its investigation, revealed that the claims made by the company on website, social media, packaging and logos were false and misleading in those municipalities where K-Cups were not even accepted for recycling. It must be noted that the K-Cup pods are acceptable for recycling only in the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec.

The Bureau had also questioned the company’s claims with regards to steps involved in preparing the pods for recycling. Although the company says that consumers just need to peel off the lid and empty out the coffee grounds in order to make the pods recyclable, many local recycling programs require consumers to carry out additional steps so as to make them ready to be recycled.