BURLINGTON, Mass. and
PLANO, Texas, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Keurig Dr Pepper
(NASDAQ: KDP) today announced that it has successfully achieved one
of its longstanding sustainability commitments – all of the K-Cup®
pods the Company produces are now recyclable.
The extensive effort involved converting more than 100
manufacturing lines to produce the pods now made from polypropylene
#5 plastic. In addition, new packaging for the recyclable
K-Cup pods features a green recyclable flag as well as the
industry-respected How2Recycle® label that clearly communicates
recycling instructions to consumers[1].
Keurig Dr Pepper produces approximately 80% of the coffee pods
sold at retail[2] for use in Keurig® brewers and, earlier this
year, began shipping to retailers the new recyclable format, which
is now largely transitioned on retail shelves.
"It's an exciting day for KDP and our partners as we complete
this multi-year journey that required intensive product
development, significant capital investment and expansive industry
engagement," said Monique Oxender,
Chief Sustainability Officer at Keurig Dr Pepper.
To ensure pods could be successfully recovered in recycling
facility streams, in 2016 KDP pioneered testing using RFID
technology to track tens of thousands of K-Cup pods in various
recycling facilities across North
America. Those tests demonstrated that K-Cup pods were able
to successfully pass through the stream with other recyclables to
be further sorted with containers, a finding which was further
validated by the Association of Plastic Recyclers.
In addition to converting 100% of K-Cup pods to the new
recyclable format, KDP has intensified its efforts to ensure that
recycling facilities across the U.S. have the capability to recycle
polypropylene. Earlier this year, with a $10
million commitment, KDP became a Founding Member and the
largest funder of The Recycling Partnership's Polypropylene
Recycling Coalition ("The Coalition"), a collaborative of 18
organizations, including fellow steering committee members Braskem,
the Walmart Foundation and the NextGen Consortium, dedicated to
increasing the quantity and quality of polypropylene recycling in
the U.S.
Earlier today, The Coalition announced the recipients of its
first four grants – Materials Recovery Facilities in New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania and
Ohio – to improve and increase
sortation of polypropylene and support targeted consumer education
efforts to increase collection of this valuable material. These
grants will widen total nationwide acceptance of polypropylene in
curbside recycling programs by approximately 1.7% to an additional
four million people, resulting in the recovery of a larger supply
of polypropylene that could be made into new products such as
consumer packaging and automotive parts.
Oxender added, "Designing recyclable coffee pods is just one
important step in our journey to make the Keurig brewing system
more sustainable. Our work continues to minimize our overall
plastic footprint while we play a leadership role in cross-industry
collaborations for critical recycling infrastructure improvements
across the United States and
Canada in support of a circular
economy."
KDP is a Principal Member of World Wildlife Fund's (WWF)
ReSource: Plastic activation hub, a first-of-its-kind effort
to quantify corporate impact and track company actions and
opportunities to reduce plastic waste.
"We developed ReSource: Plastic to help companies turn
their plastic waste commitments into action, and that's exactly
what Keurig Dr Pepper has done with today's announcement," said
Erin Simon, Head, Plastic Waste and
Business, World Wildlife Fund. "Access to recyclable content is
essential if we're going to build a larger plastic waste management
system. Investing in polypropylene is a positive step toward
building a system where materials can be successfully
recovered."
KDP's research and development teams are working on new
sustainability innovations for Keurig brewers and pods. In both
Canada and the U.S., the Keurig
K-Mini® and K-Mini Plus® coffee makers in matte black are made with
at least 20% and 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic,
respectively, and the new K-Supreme Plus® brewer also contains at
least 30% PCR content. The Company plans to increase those
percentages in those brewers in 2021 while expanding the use of PCR
to more brewer models.
Learn more about KDP's journey to delivering recyclable K-Cup
pods and its sustainability efforts in two recent Vox Explainer
videos here and here.
About Keurig Dr Pepper
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a leading beverage company in
North America, with annual revenue
in excess of $11 billion and nearly
26,000 employees. KDP holds leadership positions in soft drinks,
specialty coffee and tea, water, juice and juice drinks and mixers,
and markets the #1 single serve coffee brewing system in the U.S.
and Canada. The Company's
portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands is
designed to satisfy virtually any consumer need, any time, and
includes Keurig®, Dr Pepper®, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters®,
Canada Dry®, Snapple®, Bai®, Mott's®, CORE® and The Original Donut
Shop®. Through its powerful sales and distribution network, KDP can
deliver its portfolio of hot and cold beverages to nearly every
point of purchase for consumers. The Company is committed to
sourcing, producing and distributing its beverages responsibly
through its Drink Well. Do Good. corporate responsibility
platform, including efforts around circular packaging, efficient
natural resource use and supply chain sustainability. For more
information, visit, www.keurigdrpepper.com.
About the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition
The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition is focused on increasing
access for people to recycle polypropylene through curbside
recycling programs, ensuring more recycling processing facilities
can sort the material successfully, and stimulating a robust
end-market of high-quality recycled polypropylene for reuse in
packaging. The Coalition is led by The Recycling Partnership as
part of The Partnership's Pathway to Circularity, an initiative
creating scalable solutions to packaging and system challenges and
accelerating the shift to the circular economy that uses fewer
finite resources. To learn more about the Polypropylene Recycling
Coalition, its members, and how to get involved in supporting its
goals, visit recyclingpartnership.org/polypropylene-coalition
Media Contacts:
Katie Gilroy
T: 781-418-3345 / katie.gilroy@kdrp.com
Investor Contacts:
Tyson Seely
T: 781-418-3352 / tyson.seely@kdrp.com
Steve Alexander
T: 972-673-6769 / steve.alexander@kdrp.com
[1] We encourage consumers to check locally to ensure their
community accepts our recyclable K-Cup pods
[2] Based on IRi unit category definitions for the 52 weeks
ended 11/8/2020
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SOURCE Keurig Dr Pepper