Keurig accepts to settle coffee pod recyclability suit regarding K-Cup Pods

HOBOKEN, N.J. - Dec. 2, 2021 - PRLog -- This case, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California in November 2018, claims that the company deceives customers by claiming that polypropylene K-Cups have a recyclable nature.

Details of this deal, which is the second major settlement regarding brand owners' claims for recyclability in recent months have not yet been released.

Kathleen Smith from Lafayette, Calif. sued Keurig Green Mountain. Smith claimed that Keurig told consumers to take out the metal foil on the K-Cups (https://kcupsforsale.com/k-cup-brands/green-mountain-coffee-kcups/) used, to compost or to discard the coffee grounds and then to recycle the cup.

The suit claims the cups are too small to pass through sorting screens at materials recover facilities (MRFs) due to their small sizes. According to the suit, cups that aren't disposed by the MRF can cause contamination of other recyclables. The lawsuit also claims that even if they're sorted, baled, and sold to an MRF, residual metal and food contaminants make them unrecyclable or difficult-to-recycle.

Keurig requested that the case be dismissed citing a variety of reasons. Keurig claimed that the plaintiff failed to distinguish between its original coffee pods and its recycled K-Cup pods (https://kcupsforsale.com/). This claim was made after Keurig tested the pods with recycling companies to confirm their recyclability. KW Plastics, Merlin Plastics, and others were involved in the K-Cup recycling trials.

Keurig argued in its motion to dismiss that Keurig's marketing language was compliant with the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides. California statutes refer to Keurig's disclosure to consumers that the cups cannot be recycled in all areas and to instruct them to "check local."

Keurig was dealt an unfortunate legal blow in June 2019 when Judge Haywood Gilliam, Jr. declined dismissal of the case. Over Keurig's resistance, Gilliam issued an order certifying the class represented by plaintiff in September 2020. His ruling states that the class is "all persons who purchased Products for personal or family purposes in California (either directly, or through an agency) between June 8, 2016 and the present."

Keurig Green Mountain (https://kcupsforsale.com/k-cup-brands/green-mountain-coff...) bought Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which was acquired in 2018. The company is now part Keurig Dr Pepper. It is one of the most important beverage companies in North America.