nscript


okay let's check it out I hear something
we're scoping out the streets and back
alleys behind two of Canada's most loved
coffee chains Starbucks and Tim
Hortons digging for
Clues where do all these cups really end
up there's all kinds of Starbucks cups
in there we throw out about a billion
and a half of them every year look at
it's cups enough waste to fill over
2,000 garbage
trucks few countries drink more coffee
than we do or take as many to
go at this popular Toronto spot for a
coffee break these folks worry about all
that waste what do you think about that
when you look at a coffee cup it's such
a little thing but people don't look at
the bigger picture like makes me feel
kind of guilty for drinking this cheap
cup of coffee so what are companies
doing about that good question check out
these videos serving up company
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concern you see our cups piling up in
garbage cans you see our cups on the
streets a green image is important so
Starbucks has rolled out its very own
cup recycling program customers can toss
their cups in bins like these in about
half their stores our goal is to keep
waste out of landfill our diversion
programs cover a range of materials
including bottles cans paper packaging
and organic material Tim Horton says
it's doing its part too recycling bins
like this now in almost a quarter of
their
stores I can a latte please coffee is
about far more than the taste for Conrad
McCarron he works with the big enviral
group as you seow putting pressure on
companies to reduce the waste they
create hi there I see you grabbed a
coffee not in a paper cup absolutely not
he commends Starbucks and Tim's
commitment to recycling cups in their
stores their customers said it's
important to us all this waste all these
cups is very important to us and so to
their credit decided to make it a
priority and how unusual is that for a
big Corporation to take those
steps uh it's very unusual certainly in
the coffee business I think it's
unprecedented and so I think Starbucks
and Tim Horton were both leading this
should be
commended but are these recent cycling
programs all they're cracked up to
be to find out we send our Marketplace
team on a
mission so we've got these Marketplace
cups we're going to put them into the
recycling to see where they end up and
to help us find them later we've got
these
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sensors all right let's rig them up they
get them
ready and set off
okay here we
go so I've got my my camera's on you're
recorded and lock recording time to test
Tim Horton's and Starbucks stores across
Toronto hi just a tall M Coffee can I
recycle this the cup yeah yeah totally
we have a recyle in the corner great at
Starbucks we're directed to those
familiar blue bins we cly have one of
there at Tim Horton's too I do it in
here you guys Rec it okay our cups
tossed in recycling we grab some coffees
to go cuz it's about to be a long night
putting two coffee chains under
surveillance our crack team waits for
closing
time and
waits and waits
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finally here comes Starbucks staff
taking out the
garbage past midnight we make our
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move all right let's see what we got
will we find our cup in the garbage or
recycling this is cups and c in there
behind this Starbucks see our C we check
bag after bag I don't know none of it
looks sorted that's compost oh that's
crazy this this is just getting Dr into
the garbage into the garbage how could
it be everything except our cup where'
our cup
go at the next Starbucks we're
determined to leave no bag
unturned going in
oh my God he's doing it there star this
is starbcks as
well
oh sorry it's not your fault you
were it's a dirty job but we keep
searching for
answers do you wear something finally
our first cup there it is in the garbage
only
yeah I don't even know what that is then
another is that
it got it oh yeah right here Starbucks
says they pay a private company to
recycle so why are these cups in the
trash at Tim Horton's our cups are in
the garbage too oh there it is all in
with a stash of other items that could
easily be
recycled all told we find 14 of our test
cups in the garbage
and when we ask so are these recycling
these are um garbage those are garbage
recycle it it'll be labeled oh okay this
Fu specifically garbage this is all
garbage
yeah the answer is clear bags and bags
of coffee cups you recycled all on their
way to landfill H just doesn't make
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sense so I take my own drive to Canada
fibers North America's largest recycling
plant so all of this has come in in one
day in fact it was probably put here in
less than an hour exact Mark Badger
gives me a tour they recycle everything
here from paper and plastic to metal and
glass as for coffee cups so what is the
bottom line on these cups can they be
recycled absolutely they can be recycled
however in most places they're not why
is that
there is extra cost in processing uh
most types of hot drink coffee cups
teacups because they're a combination of
paper and plastic if companies brought
you bags of coffee cups could you
recycle them the answer is yes but if
the economics are right turns out paper
cups have a plastic lining you can't see
that's why it costs more to recycle them
they also have to be separated out not
what we saw wow what a waste that's all
totally avoidable we show our nighttime
surveillance to environmentalist Conrad
McCarron the cups we put in recycling
ended up in the garbage enormous waste
of materials this would appear to be
total greenwash of that policy so much
for Starbucks and Tim's promise to
recycle all those cups so what do the
coffee Giants have to say well we share
our findings and asked for an interview
for weeks no
luck I'd like a large latte please so
since Starbucks and Tim Hortons don't
have time for an interview and a cup of
coffee we're bringing one to
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them hello <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON> from
Marketplace I'm wondering if I could
talk to rosan
Williams hi dere hi I understand you're
looking for rossan yeah at head office
president rossanne Williams isn't in but
they say they'll look for someone else
is there someone that can talk to us
today I'm going to give this to someone
who will get in touch with it's been
over a month and we haven't heard from
anyone agreeing to an
interview we're told to wait outside but
as the coffee cools so does Starbucks
desire to
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talk why no interview
can Canadians trust Starbucks green
image see if that gets a
response finally an hour later I'm the
property manager here you're on private
property now are we being asked to leave
the property correct please
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comply I think Canadians are going to be
disappointed that not one person at
Starbucks headquarters would talk to us
how many lattes do they sell us in it
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Starbucks does get in touch by email
they say they're now reviewing how their
stores
recycle as for Tim Horton's we stopped
by head office with a double double
hoping to talk to president David
clanahan regards to a c cycling program
actually I have no one here for
available for comment right now is
Canadians put a lot of trust in Tim
could you call someone for us no there's
no
she did not make one phone call to
anyone in any of the Departments here to
see if somebody here could talk to us
yep Canada's most loved coffee chain
isn't feeling the love for
us so this is the end of the line This
is where material that can't be recycled
ends up going the cost of recycling cups
means they aren't part of most City's
blue box programs including Toronto all
that is garbage destined for landfill
look at that you can see coffee cups
here there's one there's one so until
coffee companies make good on their
promises cups tossed in their stores
recycling bins have one destination in
they go
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