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

marketplace coffee's on we're back back on the trail of coffee cups you thought you recycled gloves on we want to know if Canada's two biggest coffee chains have cleaned up their act and started recycling coffee cups Tim Hortons and Starbucks promised they'd recycle your cup when you put them in bins like these so three months ago marketplace put those claims to the test using tricked out cups those cups went in the recycling but when we returned we found them in the trash after that Starbucks stores across Canada posted signs like this saying they regret disappointing any customers and will make things right did they you asked us to keep the heat on so we're going back to the same Toronto stores we checked out last time these have a medium steep tea we have a tall blonde please so if I put this in the blue bin will it be recycled okay at Starbucks once again we're assured our cup will be recycled same at Tim's we'll return to see where they end up this time while we wait at Toronto City Hall policymakers are also looking for change when I saw the CBC marketplace segment it really did make my blood boil because be basically the public's being duped they're being mislead and that sort of behavior has to stop counselor John Burnside is submitting a motion asking the province to take action I would like basically an answer as to what enforcement can take place and how it will take place in Ontario there's a law against making misleading claims which could include companies saying they're recycling when they're not so what are the big coffee chains doing now hey here we are last time Tim Hortons through the cups we recycled in the garbage it's in the other one this one same thing as last time to the black garbage bag and it's all garbage here in the trash maybe we'll get different results of this Tim's if we get in oh there we go in the garbage so Tim Hortons the same thing in two names first to fail better luck at the next one nope that's clearly labeled carpets only three times three times so Tim Horton says they're proud of their recycling initiatives but finding our cups in the trash makes us question if they should be next stop Starbucks it never used to say mix recycling look at these brand new bins so they're brand new stickers with mixed recycling labels no we're so close so close but where's that cup we're tracking okay so this was in mixed recycling which is new right I don't know what makes recycling means but let's hope it's getting recycling at the second Starbucks we visit we find our Cup in the mixed recycling as well more new bins at our third stop - looks like Starbucks is making some changes but does this mean the cups are actually being recycled environmentalist Conrad McCarran thinks Starbucks and Tim Hortons should provide proof they're living up to their green claims these things should all be independently verified by a third party I think it's important that both Tim Hortons and Starbucks be held accountable and at least show evidence of independent auditing so we asked the coffee giants to provide audits proof their cups are getting recycled we hear nothing from Tim's Starbucks says they've done their own internal review but won't share details so we keep digging with the help of a local coffee shop we call waste Co the private hauler Tim Hortons and Starbucks pay to pick up their recycling in Toronto we ask what services they offer and you won't believe what we hear do you recycle coffee cups no one no one I'll tell you they do but you didn't see this CBC marketplace thing the sales rep doesn't know he's talking to marketplace which is completely different from we will find a final home so let's stand it right to the landfill instead of driving around or wasting resources pretending it's gonna get recycled so these are the coffee cups are just not gonna happen that's the reality here that is real that is real he doesn't mince words so we call waistcoats head office to confirm what we hear they say the sales rep has it wrong that they do send cups out for recycling but they won't tell us exactly where and they refuse to talk about Starbucks and Tim's while the big coffee companies grew over their next move in Vancouver there's an event with a solution to all those cups going to landfill a deposit system for every used cup turned in you get a nickel every single coffee cup that you use on average what do we use it for about 15 minutes it's gonna spend about 500 years in the landfill after just half a day they collect more than 30,000 cups they'll be hauled away a private company has offered to recycle them hmm these guys can make it happen why can't Canada's coffee giants as for our undercover sleuths their work is done not the case for some Starbucks and Tim Hortons should we go get our cameraman and that's my last story for marketplace after 15 years I've decided to join CBC's go public an investigative news team it's been an honor to host this show with an incredibly talented team I'm proud of the changes we've convinced corporations and governments to make on your behalf of course this show wouldn't be the success it is without your support so thank you and keep watching

Channel: CBC News

Views: 118,272

Rating: 4.9178081 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News, CBCNews, CBC broadcasting media, public broadcasting, news, Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, cbc marketplace, marketplace, marketplace cbc, coffee, tea, starbucks, recycling, wasteco, tim hortons, environment, paper, forests

Id: cZuRmq6fy20

Length: 7min 25sec (445 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 29 2016