• by Danielle Oster , September 11, 2024

Keurig has touted its K-Cups as “100% recyclable” following a 2020 rollout of the reformulated product, but the company seems to have exaggerated their recyclability in some of its past statements.

Keurig Dr Pepper just agreed to a $1.5 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over charges that the company made inaccurate statements about the recyclability of its single-use K-Cup pods. The company agreed to pay the civil penalty and to comply with a cease-and-desist order to stop making those statements, while neither admitting to or denying the charges, according to a release from the SEC.

Keurig introduced redesigned single use K-Cup pods in 2020, emphasizing the shift in subsequent marketing and brand communications efforts  promoting the new pods as “100% recyclable.” That claim remains on the section of Keurig’s website devoted to recyclability, alongside an asterisk bearing the disclaimer: “*Check locally - not recycled in many communities.” Previous versions of the disclaimer on the page contained the phrasing “Check locally, not recycled in all communities.” [Emphasis added.]

The company’s annual reports for fiscal years 2019 and 2020 claimed that its testing had “validate[d] that [K-Cup pods] can be effectively recycled.” While making such statements, the company failed to disclose that “two of the largest recycling companies in the United States had expressed significant concerns to Keurig regarding the commercial feasibility of curbside recycling of K-Cup pods at that time and indicated that they did not presently intend to accept them for recycling,” according to the SEC’s announcement.

 “Our K-Cup pods are made from recyclable polypropylene plastic (also known as #5 plastic), which is widely accepted in curbside recycling systems across North America,” Keurig Dr Pepper wrote in an emailed statement provided to Marketing Daily. “We continue to encourage consumers to check with their local recycling program to verify acceptance of pods, as they are not recycled in many communities. We remain committed to a better, more standardized recycling system for all packaging materials through KDP actions, collaboration and smart policy solutions.”

The company says it will introduce a mail-back recycling program via its website to customers who currently can’t recycle coffee pods locally, "expected to be available later this year," though it provided no more precise timeframe for the program.