Coffee Cups UPDATE: Are Starbucks and Tim Hortons recycling? (CBC Marketplace) 

"shall we go get our camera man?" :-D this is the first time any show I've seen has commented on the fact the camera mans still there :-D

we'll miss you, wish you all the best

Isn't there a law in Canada about truth in advertising? Nail them both.

Corps don't care about the environment or people, all they care about money no matter what it takes.

CBC is A respectful and responsible company thanks for their good job！

In our country, if we bring our own cups for takeaway, we get a discount equal to about 30-40 U.S. cents off!!!

What a disgrace.

Wow, hard hitting journalism at its finest! Tax dollars well spent.

this is just NOT acceptable ... thank u Marketplace ...

The solution is simple, we have to take matters into our own hands. Use ceramic mugs in the stores, and travel mugs, when we buy it to go. Problem solved.

You missed the big story. The big story is how poorly thought out the recycling system is. most things are not feasible to recycle. It is one of those feel good projects.

I love Marketplace! keep up the great work

WE NEED YOU HERE IN THE USA THANK YOU

we will miss you Erica and Tom!

that is why i either ask for real cup/mug if I would stay in or bring my own re-usable cup when on the go.I do sometime intend to get some paper cups just for me to carry compostable things in the kitchen, which will go to green bin.

Here's the deal with the paper cups, you can't recycle them but you can reuse them. They can be mixed into product like animal bedding. The problem with this is that it will probably never happen for post consumer product because of contamination. The only time cups get recycled is when they are post industrial meaning direct from the factory never used, like misprints or other defective cups. Infact a couple months ago we recently got an entire trailer full of coffee cups from a coffee chain that had old print on them (seasonal) we deboxed them, desleeve them and bale them. The will never be paper again.

After your show I visited my neighbourhood Tim Horton's in Montreal. I asked the manager if his store recycles the cups and he answered honestly--No. The reason is simple to understand: Customers put garbage in the recycling bins and it is just too time-consuming for the staff to sort out the cups. So the customers are to blame if Tim Horton's and Starbucks do not recycle their coffee cups.

This is amazing. Please keep up the good work, CBC!

Old, old news. Hortons I remember condoned the use of the plastic lined paper cups long time ago (1983 ish), since it was better than the standard then of using styrofoam for take out. Huge public uproar back then, especially with the launch of the blue bin program. Now they cite the cost to separate the polyethylene plastic from the paper fibers as the main challenge in recycling it, which they simply outsource the responsibility now wherever possible. Starbucks, since there is paper cups on the market with plant based linings, perhaps *could* be using that and simply need to at least separate the lid off, thus "mixed recyclables". Three R's, reduce, reuse, recycle, so to Hortons credit at least, google "stewardship ontario tim hortons" and read up. Rest is really up to us as consumers. I sill prefer just fresh ground home brew, no k cups or per post plastic waste either.

we are half of the problem. if we refuse disposable cups and stop visiting their stores until they allow ONLY mugs and reusable cups, then thing will change so fast because it's all about not losing profit.

Your work is very crutual for all players In Our industry. Keep it up and please continue keeping us on our toes. Samuel.N, NAIROBI, Kenya.

It's not entirely just the coffee company's fault. Consumers also need to be recycling them. I can't count how many people I see leaving them on the side of the road in just dumping them in the trash.

she's so gracious.

I like the idea of a deposit. Just like how there is a five or ten cent deposits on soda and you can return them and get that deposit back. That's a great idea and should be done for paper / plastic cups for coffee.

Simple solution: Charge for paper cups. Already, many places give a discout if you bring your own travel mug. Obviously, that price difference needs to be greater in order to motivate people to avoid paper cups more often. It doesn't matter whether you think of it in terms of boosting the cost a coffee with a paper cup or reducing the cost of a coffee with a travel mug. It boils down to the same thing.

Little has changed :( I emailed Starbucks the following message: "Hey Starbucks, with all these drinks in plastic cups you’re selling, how’re you encouraging customers to recycle them? If you’re offering recycling bins, who’s cleaning them out before they go to the recycler? Any plastic material with food residues on or in it CANNOT be recycled, so who does it?" Their response: "we are decreasing the waste associated with our business, increasing recycling and promoting reusability. Please know that each year, an estimated 600 billion paper and plastic cups are distributed globally*, and though Starbucks cups only account for an estimated 1 percent of that total, we are invested in finding a more sustainable solution." Then they go on with a default answer about how they got rid of double cupping in the 90s, and phased out straws... blah blah blah. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. When are we going to hold these billion dollar corporations responsible?! They've been built on terrible ethics and irresponsible business practices, and will never change unless we boycott them or government regulations force them to change.

@CBC We at least here in New Zealand have been taught that these "coffee cups" are NOT recyclable. Rather, they're compostable, and should be thrown in with the garbage - though some advise against chucking them into your worm farm. I'm starting to wonder if that's a whole lot of crock, and if something needs to be done to educate people on the damage being done with said cups.

Well done, great story.. Thumbs up!

just bring your own mug, it will save u 10 cents every time you order too.

We need to boycott these money grabbing tax avoiding company's.

I'm going to miss this show.

Awww we will miss you!

You can order a tall blonde at Starbucks? I have obviously been getting my coffee at the wrong place!

Paper coffee cups can be recycled but it's not 'cost-effective' is all. In the area I live in in New Zealand even our tetrapaks get recycled and they're a laminate of paper, plastic and aluminum. It's done in an advanced shreding-pulping machine that first separates the paper component in a slurry then the plastic and foil are separated. It's a fairly expensive process and not all local councils here will recycle tetrapaks. Don't confuse 'not economically viable' with 'can't recycle'. It's all about the money.

The host is just amazing and this show must go on and educate us since so many scams and crooks in canada no one would have known

I live I Scotland but just wood like to say great work keep it up we to are having all the same problems here

I used to work at tim hortons less than 2 months ago and I know for a FACT that the garbage and recycling get mixed. Put in separate bags in store, then when I would bring it down to dispose it all went in one big dumpster.. that's what I was told to do..

The bigger question is why accept coffee when its not in a coffee mug or coffee thermos container. Think its also people that should not accept or buying to these places but yet here we are cause its cheap and affordable, “convenient so to say”… i feel guilty now using a coffee cup. Man!!! I believe it has to start from us, in our mind to not accept coffee when they are not able to refill my container or put in a mug. Also, lifestyle is one of the key. Dont be too hasty with your time and your life. Either slow down and see if i can drink this coffee and not a to-go-plastic-paper cup. We cant help if we ourselves are doing it. Just a reflection and speaking out loud. Im not perfect

You're AWESOME. I love in Tucson, Arizona USA.

Well done. Thanks cbc marketplace.

With many recyclables they're not worth enough to be cost effective to recycle so they're thrown into landfills. For example: There are only so many plastic lawn chairs that can be manufactured from milk cartons and sold so the milk cartons go to the landfill.

most of the comments missed the real deal. regardless of whether it goes in a "trash" can or a "recycle" box, that can, bottle, papercup, and metal thing DOES get picked out anyways. The people picking up your garbage do NOT take it straight to the dump. In most municpalities, waste companies do NOT take the dumpster contents directly to the landfill. the first stop for collected garbage is a sorting station where every single piece of trash goes down conveyors where machines pick out iron, people pick out metals and glass and random papers when it makes sense. They're picked out and recycled. there is only one difference between "blue box" recycling and throwing the items straight into the trash. Money from bluebox recycled materials go to the city while trash picked recycling goes to the garbage collection contractor. The other sad fact is that all this do-gooder recycling is wasted effort. There is no market for recycled glass. most cities have mountains of ground up glass somewhere. There is very little market for all the recycled paper because there's so much glue, ink, and other random crap in it. All the energy used to recycle and sort out metals is practically a waste of time in itself because the final product is inferior. The only way metal recycling works well is when it's more pure like cutting up a decommissioned ship, choppng up the beams from a building demolition, etc. All the equipement, fuel, man hours, and electricity used to collect and melt down your soup cans mixed in with other junk is nearly nonsense. In addition to that, each time you re-process a metal, you lose a certain percentage. The motivation to recycle is a good one but the end result isn't as nice as you're led to believe.

Just bring your own cup or thermos..

Perhaps the cups should go to a Pulp and Paper Mill? Same place where old Newspapers, Magazines, and Phone Books, etc., all get watered down onto a thick paste and turned into those cardboard trays coffee shops have for carrying 4 cups at a time.

Thank you marketplace,for let us know,what is going wrong around us.

good job cbc. thank you for letting everybody know the facts. i, myself will not use take out coffee cups anymore. i suggest everybody do the same.

how are they wearing Tim's visors ?

Why don't the companies offer a discount to those who bring their own coffee cups/commuter mugs? Is this not occurring now?

6:05 Does another investigative video need to be done about Vancouver's half day deposit system recycling of 30,000 coffee cups?

so where did the Wasteco truck takes its load

they probably send them to the Philippines

That sales rep, it was his last working day.. so spilled the 'beans' ..... 🤣🤣🤣 plausible story

We need more updates. One day they will have to/forced to recycle them orelse we should stop buying from. Its consumers who can actually make a huge difference.

I want to know the different between " Mixed Recycle " and " Garbage "....

They should track their cup when it's picked up from the truck and see where it goes

They don't.

No mention of McDonald's cups they are the wort ones they are paper and Styrofoam they are the hardest to recycle. they need to encourage people to bring there own mugs in or charge a couple of cents if you need a cup, similar to what grocery stores do with bags.

Well done marketplace. But now we need some solution and suggestions of what customers should do in order to show those big companies

Awe gunna miss her she's my favorite I'll see her in her new show ^_^

You know I thought it looked like it was all one big bin with just separate holes.... good to know I was right. I mean.... not actually because it means that recycling is not happening, but... you get the idea.

I still can’t believe these companies still are being such careless

If only there was a government mandated nickel deposit on coffee cups. Then you would have free garbage pickers out there picking up all this trash and recycling it for free!!!!!

I swear I hear faint beeping coming from these videos.

Thanks for telling the truth...I make my own coffee at home.

Time for me to get a travel mug!!!!

those paper cups can't be recycled they're mixed with plastic and wax I guess

tims in saint john nb removed all there garbage cans from the drive thru lanes to save money ....now people just throw cups out along the road

Awesome🖒

Amen it's about time we can get justice of the right thing for us and the world

I care about the environment. Coffee cups may be hard to recycle, but me and my grandmother would dump both the filter and the coffee grounds into the compost bucket.

Save up your cups for a few months, see how sick ya feel after you realize how much you as an individual use, and waste on coffee shop coffee...

coffee cups are not recyclable that would be why! there is a wax coating in them that makes them trash.

Why they do not put all cups into each other an then to bags.completly waste of money..whole truck for 400lbs

Why did she quit?

sad to see

Here is the 6:05 cup recycling update from Oct 2018: www.binnersproject.org/coffee-cup-revolution.html

we all know what

like these store would pay for someone to sort trash--- because lets face it, people put garbage in the recycle all the time so sorting is required

All they can do with used cups is compost them. That's recycled if it's compost that will be used...which who doesn't use compost. It's great in coffee. They ought to call a mixed coffee compost coffee. Big hit with the customers, we're gonna put it in all the stores. Who knew people wanted to drink something called compost coffee. Do you want water wasted to rinse out and sterilize the cups, which can't be done. They're garbage or compost if they're paper. Final answer. And what did the people that said they'll recycle them do..... compost them?

You cant include Mcdonald's in this report because their cans are locked up in an enclosed garage.

Why can drink cartons be recycled, but not coffee cups?

The reality of all of this and Marketplaces good work??Why are not government agencies doing their own research and investigating,a lot of tax payers money goes into wages and operation of government agencies.

The WasteCo guy lmao. Giving it straight ZERO fucks given mon.

It’s all about the money. Period.

How devious these companies can be! They're also very rude. They're more than happy to take customers money, yet won't answer their question. Quite the opposite. The bastards wouldn't talk to them and had them leave the building. People need to boycott both Starbucks and Tim Hortons. When they lose lots of money, many clients, then they will do something about it. So long as they're getting rich, they don't care.

I will never get a Starbucks or a Time Hortons coffee, very disappointed.

I love this kind of public accountability whistle blower shoes

6:58

People focus too much on recycle. I would remind people out there the program is actually 3Rs. And recycling is the final resort. More should be promoted to reduce and reuse. Because that is something the people can control. So perhaps be less hypocritical and do what you should to reduce paper cups. Now im not saying eliminate the cups or that what the companies are doing is right. Not even close. But when you see soooooo many paper cups and so many people taking about recycle, obviously, they themselves haven't put in the effort to help either. Again ... too much focus on recycle, too little emphasis on the 1st 2 Rs.

Sinful world that we all live in!!

Just shut down starbucks and put them in landfill.

27k views for a 1 year old+ video? why?

the problem is 1. you only did one test with the tracking devices and jumped to the conclusion that the cups are being recycled with a sample size of 2 2. you didn't blame the empoyees for what appeared to be throwing bags in the bin labeled "garbage only" or investigate whether they had bins labeled for "recycle" 3. you didn't listen to the starbucks employee that said "wait here". you trespassed 4. lots of bags were clearly thrown away by starbucks customers, who didn't even bother to place their cups in the recycled can, and yet you didn't impart environmental responsibility to them 5. you entered into their offices with a huge camera w/ camera man, without asking if you could film; no wonder they were off-put and unwilling to be interviewed. on the other hand 1. starbucks and tim hortons should have responded to your email and given you an interview the first time you emailed them 2. these companies should have better recycling practices, which you uncovered, good job

heyyyy]

Here is the other coffee cup video from CBC: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y39-IZEuNDA.html

This is so cool! Now they really have to prove it! We all are just a bounch of liers! "Just like the bible say! God say aren't any righteous no not even one"! Little less when is money on the middle! I never buy this coffe anyway! It seems ridiculously expensive, must be the " mix material"cup!

People who have this incessant need to drink overpriced coffee are just as much to blame as these big companies who don't give a damn about anything other then making the almighty dollar. If Canadians or others in any other Country would stop giving in to these corporations and buying their products, until the corporations could learn to be a little bit smarter in their environmental 'footprint' then changes would be made to get customers back. But that's not likely to happen anytime in the near future and that's what these companies are banking on.

who cares

Funny how business hours end with a minimum wage desk clerks arm...LOL dumb employee sells there soul and does the dirty work of the corporate evil heads, for free. LOL atleast ask for a bonus. Gzzzz. FYI JUST see videos like these and then simply STOP SHOPPING THERE. They will come running with excuses to you. Buy your own, brew your own, use your own mug. Come on people it ain't that hard. Show less REPLY

hahaha no one cares about the planet...we got duped