Keurig Dr Pepper Canada is a leading beverage company with a portfolio of more than 70 owned, licensed and partner brands across coffee, soft drinks, tea, juice and mixers. As the company behind Canada’s #1 single-serve coffee brewing system, Keurig® is committed to advancing innovation that supports both consumer convenience and sustainability. Through continuous investments in eco-design, packaging innovation and circular economy partnerships, we are working to improve the recyclability and recovery of our products across Canada.

Describe a recent sustainability initiative that your company has undertaken that you are most proud of.

One initiative we are especially proud of is the introduction of our new peelable lid on K-Cup® pods alongside the expansion of acceptance in recycling programs across Canada. In 2025, Quebec became the second Canadian province after British Columbia to officially accept K-Cup® pods in its province-wide recycling program, following BC’s adoption in 2016. With empty K-Cup pods officially accepted in the Ontario residential blue box program since January of 2026, acceptance in recycling programs now covers 75% of the Canadian population – which we consider a great achievement.

To support this progress, we redesigned our K-Cup® pods with an easy-peel lid that allows consumers to quickly separate the coffee grounds for composting before placing the empty pod in the recycling bin. This innovation simplifies preparation for recycling and supports the adoption of the right recycling behaviours at home.

As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs continue expanding across Canada, we are actively collaborating with industry partners and recycling organizations with the objective of reaching close to 90% nationwide recycling program acceptance for K-Cup® pods by 2027.

Pourquoi cette initiative était-elle importante pour votre équipe, votre organisation ou l'industrie du café?

This initiative reflects our long-term commitment to circularity and eco-design while helping make recycling simpler and more accessible for Canadian consumers. For our teams, it represented years of collaboration across manufacturing, packaging innovation, sustainability and communications to redesign our pods and support evolving recycling systems. From the get-go, we really wanted to make sure that our products would not only be recyclable but would also have a real potential to be effectively recycled. This is why we dedicated so much time and efforts into research, innovation and consumer education.

More broadly, we believe this progress demonstrates how collaboration between producers, governments and recycling organizations can help strengthen recycling systems and advance a more circular economy for packaging in the coffee industry.

Comment cette initiative soutient-elle vos objectifs commerciaux à long terme ?

This initiative directly supports our goal of improving the recyclability and recovery of our packaging portfolio while helping consumers participate more easily in sustainable behaviours. It also aligns with the transition toward Extended Producer Responsibility across Canada, and the implementation of modernized recycling systems. By investing early in innovation towards packaging that are designed for recycling, we are contributing to increased system performance, while supporting a more circular economy.

Comment mesurez-vous les progrès ou l'impact?

We measure progress through several indicators, including expansion of recycling acceptance, consumer feedback and operational conversion milestones.

Des partenariats ou des collaborations vous ont-ils aidé à faire avancer ce travail?

Absolutely. Over the past several years, collaboration has been essential to advancing recycling acceptance for K-Cup® pods across Canada. We have worked closely with leading organizations across the recycling ecosystem, including Recycle BC, Éco Entreprises Québec and, more recently, Circular Materials to support the expansion of recycling programs, including Ontario’s Blue Box system. These partnerships have helped us align our packaging innovation efforts with evolving recycling infrastructure and Extended Producer Responsibility programs across the country.

Beyond provincial programs, we have also worked alongside industry peers through initiatives such as the Circular Plastics Taskforce to help address broader recovery and circularity challenges impacting the consumer packaged goods sector. Over the years, this collaborative work has contributed to advancing conversations around packaging recovery, infrastructure modernization, optimized recycling processes, consumer education and the long-term development of more circular systems for plastics in Canada. We strongly believe that collective industry action is essential to accelerating meaningful and lasting progress.

Quelle est la leçon ou le conseil que vous pouvez partager avec d'autres acteurs du secteur du café?

While this milestone represents important progress for K-Cup® pods, the impact extends far beyond a single product category. The collaboration and innovation driven through initiatives such as the Circular Plastics Taskforce are helping strengthen recovery systems for many types of plastic packaging considered more challenging to recycle including small-format items across the broader consumer packaged goods industry. Those learnings and innovations are shared widely even beyond our Canadian borders, to the benefit of the entire value chain.               

One of the most important lessons from this journey is that industry-wide challenges require industry-wide collaboration. Whether advancing recycling infrastructure, accelerating circular packaging solutions or addressing broader issues such as climate change and its impact on the global coffee belt, meaningful progress happens when companies, governments and industry organizations align around shared goals and work collectively toward long-term solutions.

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