Keurig gets serious about stopping plastic waste; joins Plastics Pacts, Trash Free Seas

Keurig Dr Pepper, maker of single-serve plastic K-Cups, announced that it has become a signatory in two regional initiatives sustainability sponsored by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact network – the U.S. Plastic Pact and the Canada Plastics Pact.

Both pacts bring together key players with the goal of helping establish a circular economy for plastics. Keurig Dr Pepper also recently joined Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance, which gathers leaders from the private sector, conservation and academia.

As an activator of the Plastics Pacts, Keurig Dr Pepper has agreed to collectively make efforts toward four ambitious country-level goals:

» Define a list of packaging to be designated as problematic or unnecessary by 2021 and take measures to eliminate them by 2025.

» By 2025, all plastic packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable.

» By 2025, undertake ambitious actions to effectively recycle or compost 50% of plastic packaging.

» By 2025, the average recycled content or responsibly sourced bio-based content in plastic packaging will be 30%.

"We recognize that achieving a truly circular economy for plastics requires significant systematic change, and we are eager to join these groups of diverse leaders from across sectors to ensure that plastics never become waste or pollution,” said KDP chief sustainability officer at Monique Oxender.

A circular economy, sometimes referred to as circularity, is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and instead employing the continual use of resources.