That 75% recyclable claim on the coffee cup got me thinking

I grabbed a coffee at that chain shop downtown and the cup said '75% recycled material' in big letters. But when I looked close at the fine print, it said the actual recycling rate for those cups is like 8% because of the plastic lining. Feels like they're counting the input as green but not the output. Anyone else notice companies pulling that trick with packaging stats?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice92811d ago

Totally fell for that same kind of marketing before, but this makes me question how many of those "green" labels are just smoke and mirrors. Really makes you wonder what the actual environmental impact is versus what they print on the package.

willowr9611d ago

It's funny you mention that, because I started looking at this stuff differently after I noticed a bag labeled "100% recyclable" but the instructions said to drop it off at a special location that no one in my county actually uses. @alice928 you're right to question it, the gap between what they claim and what actually happens is way bigger than most people realize. So here's my question: if a company knows their product is technically recyclable but the infrastructure to recycle it barely exists, is that still a fair claim or is it basically greenwashing by design?

felixlane11d ago

Actual recycling rate is like 8%" - thats the part that gets me. They put all this effort into making the cup look green with the recycled material claim but then the plastic lining makes it basically unrecyclable at scale. Its like making a "compostable" fork but forgetting to mention it only breaks down in an industrial facility that most towns dont have. The real problem is theyre measuring the start of the life cycle not the end.