OAKVILLE, ON, Canada – Tim Hortons’s new EcoCup™ pods are now available in British Colombia. The K-Cup® compatible coffee pods, featuring an outer cup made from #6 polystyrene plastic, are accepted in the vast majority of BC recycling programs – residents are encouraged to check with their municipality or recycling service provider. Consumers can simply snap, separate and sort to divert 95 per cent of pod waste from landfills. Tim Hortons is the first major brand to launch a separable recyclable pod.
“Since first launching Tim Hortons Single-Serve Coffee pods we’ve worked closely with MMBC and our packaging suppliers to improve the recyclability of our packaging, while preserving the premium quality and fresh taste our guests have come to expect from Tim Hortons coffee,” says Tammy Sadinsky Martin, SVP Retail, Tim Hortons Canada.
“EcoCup™ pods allow consumers to easily snap, separate and sort the components, compost the grinds and recycle the outer plastic cup, where accepted.”
From October to December, Tim Hortons is conducting a consumer education and awareness campaign at local malls that will include demonstrations and sampling, engaging consumers in a “pledge” to recycle the Tim Hortons Single-Serve EcoCup™ pod sample they receive.
Additional marketing education includes TV advertising, online support including www.timhortons.com/BCrecycles, and features on TimsTV in restaurants.
“After consumers brew their cup of coffee and let the pod cool, all they need to do is snap the tab and peel back the lid, separate the lid and the filter from the outer plastic cup, and then sort the components, placing the plastic cup in the recycling bin,” says Sadinsky Martin.
“The lid and filter go in the garbage and consumers can easily compost the coffee grinds in their gardens or compost bins. This enables consumers to divert 95 per cent of the pod waste.”
To learn more about the adoption of the new recyclable format, Tim Hortons is working with MMBC, the non-profit organization that finances and manages the majority of the province’s residential recycling programs, on a three-month recycling study that tracks how the pods flow from homes to recycling facilities.
In early 2016, Tim Hortons and MMBC will share the recycling study results, best practices and key lessons.
“Our MMBC program can capture and recycle the packaging as long as residents separate and remove the organic material,” says Allen Langdon, Managing Director of MMBC. “We applaud Tim Hortons for adopting a separable format and driving the consumer behaviour, and we’re collaborating with them to track and measure the separation of these pods.”
The resulting recycling study will be useful in demonstrating how this packaging could be accepted and successfully integrated into the recycling programs of other municipalities and jurisdictions across North America.
