CBC's Marketplace exposes what coffee chains really do with recyclable materials

If you feel good about the fact that you throw your used coffee cups into recycling bins at coffee shops, you might want to think again.

On October 30, CBC's Marketplace broadcast an investigation they conducted to determine whether or not Toronto coffee chains were actually recycling the materials that customers had thrown into recycling bins.

The Marketplace team placed tracking devices in coffee cups that they threw into recycling bins in 14 Starbucks and 14 Tim Hortons locations in Toronto.

The results revealed things weren't as they seemed.

Marketplace investigators were able to recover seven of their tracking devices from bins for garbage pickup (along with numerous other recyclable materials), not for recycling.

Neither company would provide a representative for Marketplace to speak with but Starbucks issued a statement that they would review their in-store recycling program in Canada.

Watch the investigation in the video below.

Probably the best option for reducing waste when ordering coffee to go is to use a reusable mug—that cuts down on both the production and recycling (when it's actually done) process of coffee cups.