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In 2019, EcoJustice<\/a>\u00a0submitted an application to the Competition Bureau of Canada to bring attention to concerns over Keurig Canada’s marketing campaign containing false and misleading information about the\u00a0recyclability of their labelled “recyclable K-cups” in order to promote their product – as we have learned in the class, the term for this is greenwashing<\/strong>. These claims were made on all over Keurig’s branding which includes their website, social media posts, logos and packaging. As\u00a0outlined in the application<\/a>, these claims did meet the requirements under the Competition Bureau’s Environmental Claims Guide<\/em>, which were not to be misleading and to be unlikely to result in misinterpretation which the application further went to give instances about.<\/p>\n Keurig’s “How to Recycle’ Instructions<\/p>\n Keurig’s advertisements relay the overall message that K-cups can be easily and conveniently recycled in three easy which is explicitly shown by their “How to Recycle” instructions. What they miss out is on the fact that K-cups cannot be widely recycled through municipality recycling programs outside of British Columbia and Quebec. This echoes greenwashing to me \u00a0as Keurig commit the “The Sin of Worshiping False Labels” as they use the recyclable sign, when it’s actually not in most places.\u00a0Beyond packaging, Keurig also utilises visuals of a blue recycling bin in its national advertisements (now taken off YouTube) which suggest that K-Cups are recyclable throughout Canada but are not.<\/p>\n After investigation, the Competition Bureau of Canada did rule Keurig Canada to be guilty of greenwashing their K-Cups in terms of how and where the cups can be recycled which also extends to their marketing with their partner brands. Under the Consent Agreement<\/a> between the Competition Bureau and Keurig Canada in January 2022, Keurig has settled to pay $3 million dollars as a penalty to the Bureau and an additional $800,000 to a Canadian environmental charity approved by the Bureau. In addition to monetary settlement, Keurig haas also agreed to change the claims and packaging of the K-Cups in the future including corrective notices about the recyclability of their product so consumers know where exactly can they properly dispose and recycle their single-use cups. The corporation has also agreed to work on enhancing its corporate compliance program so they can prevent greenwashing and other deceptive marketing tactics in the future.<\/p>\n While this seems like a disadvantage to Keurig’s marketing campaign for now, I believe that this will benefit their product in the future as they will focus their shift to ethically green marketing and as we have learned through rule #15 of the \u201cThe 20 New Rules of Green Marketing\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which states that “Green consumers trust brands that tell all” and with more green consumers emerging, especially in Canada, being transparent with their products will increase demand as they will know exactly how to recycle their cups and go through the effort of doing so because no one wants to skip their daily cup of coffee, right?<\/p>\n Sources<\/p>\n https:\/\/ecojustice.ca\/keurigs-3-million-fine-highlights-the-pervasive-issue-of-greenwashing\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/ecojustice.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Ecojustice-and-University-of-Victoria-Environmental-Law-Centre-Application-for-Inquiry-into-Keurig-Canada-Inc.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n The Seven Sins of Greenwashing by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing (Course Reading)<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/competition-bureau\/news\/2022\/01\/keurig-canada-to-pay-3-million-penalty-to-settle-competition-bureaus-concerns-over-coffee-pod-recycling-claims.html<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/decisions.ct-tc.gc.ca\/ct-tc\/cdo\/en\/item\/518827\/index.do<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janvisinghcomm484\/files\/2022\/02\/label-650-6d8775307e574044a4cc7b018e8c9322.jpg\")
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