We Americans are on the whole not very good at recycling. We just kinda throw plastic-looking things in the bin with the best intentions and then let the fates play out from there. In our defense, what is and isn’t recyclable varies from municipality to municipality, and information about what is accepted is a tightly-kept secret that requires a high level of government security clearance to access. And on top of all that, some things claiming to be recyclable may not be.
Case in point: K-Cups. The single-use coffee pods from Keurig have previously claimed that they could be recycled. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disagrees and has fined the company $1.5 million because of it.
As reported by ESG Today, the charges and the civil penalty stem from 2019 and 2020 annual reports from Keurig to the SEC stating that their K-Cups “can be effectively recycled,” without also noting that two of the largest recycling companies in America “expressed significant concern” about them. These two companies questioned the “commercial feasibility” of curbside recycling for the pods and went on to state they didn’t intend to accept them.
The SEC ultimately found the environmental claims to be misleading, and by a Keurig subsidiary’s own research they were a “significant factor” in consumers opting to buy a Keurig.
Public companies must ensure that the reports they file with the SEC are complete and accurate. When a company speaks to an issue in its annual report, they are required to provide information necessary for investors to get the full picture on that issue so that investors can make educated investment decisions.
Keurig must now pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million, “without admitting or denying the Commission’s findings.”
In case you needed it, here’s yet another sign that you should stop drinking pods. Sure, they are convenient, but the coffee is generally low quality and claims of sustainability are questionable at best. And with the glut of SCA-approved automatic brewers on the market these days, it’s just so easy to make really high quality coffee. There’s really no excuse, especially now that the K-Cup’s specious sustainability claims have been called into question.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
