Jennifer L. Henn  |  September 16, 2020

Category: Beverages

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A cup of coffee surrounded by coffee beans sits near a coffee maker - keurig coffee pods

An environmentally conscious coffee drinker from New England recently launched a new class action lawsuit over claims that Keurig coffee pods are not recyclable, though they are labeled otherwise.

Matthew Downing of Massachusetts accuses Keurig of violating federal and state business and trade laws. He is seeking to represent countless other consumers who bought Keurig coffee pods, also known as K-cups, in Massachusetts because the products were held out to be recyclable and turned out not to be.

Downing is seeking unspecified financial damages for himself and the proposed Class Members as well as a permanent injunction from the Court preventing Keurig from marketing or labeling the beverage pods as recyclable.

“Consumers understand claims that a product is recyclable to mean not only that the product is manufactured with recyclable material, or that the product may be theoretically recyclable somewhere, but that the product will, if placed in a recycling bin, likely be recycled,” the Keurig class action lawsuit says. That doesn’t happen with Keurig coffee pods.

Keurig coffee machines, originally sold for commercial use, hit the market for home goods in 2004.

The machine brews individual cups of coffee from small coffee pods — or tea, or hot chocolate pods — that contain a single-serving amount of ground coffee and a filter. After a K-cup is inserted and the machine engaged, the Keurig pierces the foil lid on top of the plastic pod and injects it with hot water to generate the coffee. The coffee is then circulated out of the machine and into a waiting cup.

Generic espresso pods - keurig coffee pods

The speed and convenience of the Keurig coffee method was a nearly instant hit with consumers despite the fact that the cost per cup of coffee was typically higher than for coffee brewed in multicup drip or percolating coffee makers. Other manufacturers soon joined the niche market with their own versions of single-serve coffee pod machines.

Years later, pressure from customers and environmental advocates prompted the industry to address the plastic waste created by the disposable single-serve machines and pods, according to Downing.

“Keurig attempted to rebrand itself as an environmentally friendly company,” the class action lawsuit says.

Keurig Green Mountain chief executive officer Brian P. Kelley said in a 2013 report that the “lack of recycling options for used K-Cup packs stands out front and center,” the Downing class action says. In light of customer demand for improvement, the company “pledged that, by 2020, 100% of K-Cup packs will be recyclable.”

In June 2016, the company’s coffee pod packaging began boasting consumers could “Have your cup and recycle it, too” in a simple, three-step process: “Peel — Empty — Recycle.” The pods inside, once constructed from a kind of plastic that could not be recycled, were now made of recyclable plastic, the company said.

Coffee pod boxes also started featuring the triangular chasing-arrow logo for recyclable products, the class action lawsuit says.

“A reasonable consumer viewing these labels would understand that the pods were recyclable,” the class action argues. In fact, they are not, Downing claims.

The Keurig coffee pods are too small to be recycled in most communities and because of their size they are prone to getting crushed even smaller in the trash, according to the class action lawsuit.

Their foil lid is prohibitive and the pods “often arrive at recycling centers contaminated with food waste” or with their paper filter still in place, and most recycling centers are not equipped to clean out each individual coffee pod for recycling.

“The result is that the vast majority of the purportedly recyclable pods that Keurig’s customers put in their recycling bins are not in fact recycled into new plastic products,” Downing’s class action lawsuit argues. “Instead, contrary to the wishes and understanding of Keurig’s consumers, the used pods end up in landfills.”

The company should be held accountable for what Downing says are misleading labels, packaging and marketing, which have caused him and many others to pay more for coffee pods than they would have had they known they could not be recycled.

Have you purchased a Keurig coffee machine or Keurig coffee pods because you thought they were recyclable? Did you pay more for them because of it? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff Downing and the proposed Class Members are represented by Edward F. Haber of Shapiro Haber & Urmy LLP.

The Keurig Coffee Pods Class Action Lawsuit is Matthew Downing, et al. v. Keurig Green Mountain Inc., et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-11673-IT, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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786 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit Claims Keurig Coffee Pods Are Mislabeled as Recyclable

  1. Ty says:

    I’ve been using keurig pods since they first came out, and I always take the time to make sure my recycling bin is only filled with recyclable items. Please add me.

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