The maker of single-serve K-Cup coffee pods and the coffee makers that use them, Keurig Dr Pepper, has settled a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint over the company's statements about recycling. Keurig settled the charges by agreeing to pay $1.5 million after the SEC said statements in the company's 1999 and 2000 annual reports overstated the ease with which the plastic pods could be recycled.
Keurig said in its reports that K-Cups, which first launched in 1992, could be "effectively recycled."
The SEC said in a release, "Keurig did not 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."
Keurig has also agreed to abide by rules of accurate reporting in its future annual report statements.
In a statement to CNET, a company spokesperson said Keurig was pleased to have reached an agreement that fully resolves this matter. "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," the spokesperson said.
In 2020, the company made changes to its K-Cups, and on its website says that K-Cups made since late 2020 are "100% recyclable," but they still aren't accepted by some curbside recycling programs because of their small size, even if consumers separate the K-Cup components as directed on the company's website.
"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," said the Keurig spokesperson. "We remain committed to a better, more standardized recycling system for all packaging materials through KDP actions, collaboration and smart policy solutions."
Keurig dominates the single-serve coffee market: about 40 million American homes own a Keurig brewer and billions of K-Cups are estimated to be consumed per year. The company said earlier this year that it will introduce new plant-based K-Rounds in 2025 that would eliminate the plastic recycling problem, but there's a catch: They won't be usable in existing Keurig brewers and will require the purchase of a new coffee maker. You can find a video on how they work on CNET.