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Victory: Keurig fined $3 million for misleading recycling claims

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In Climate Change
Jan 16th, 2022
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Keurig K-Cup pods

By Devon Page, Executive Director, Ecojustice

We’re pleased to kick off the new year with good news: Keurig Canada has been fined $3 million for misleading consumers about the recyclability of its single-use plastic K-Cup pods.

This victory comes following a 2019 submission by Ecojustice and the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre to the Competition Bureau asking the Bureau to investigate Keurig’s false and misleading recyclability claims.

The company has also been ordered to update its packaging and notify consumers of the changes to its claims about the recyclability of its products; donate $800,000 to a Canadian environmental charity; and pay $85,000 for the costs of the Bureau’s investigation.

This win affirms that greenwashing practices are unacceptable and that if businesses mislead consumers there will be consequences.

While greenwashing is not new, it has become more common in recent years to meet consumer demand for environmentally-friendly goods and services.

In our latest blog post, we take a closer look at why greenwashing is so dangerous and what can be done to combat it.

READ MORE

Sustainability cannot simply be a branding exercise – it must be at the core of business strategy. Strong regulation and enforcement is needed to hold companies accountable for the claims they make.You may also be interested to know that Ecojustice is challenging greenwashing claims made by companies who produce ‘flushable’ wipes as well as a forestry ‘sustainability’ certification that includes logging of dwindling old growth forests in British Columbia.

Thanks to your ongoing support, Ecojustice will continue to do our part to hold industry to account for their environmental claims. Many thanks for standing with us!

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