(PART 3) Tipping Point of Tim Hortons Cup

Inspired by the Presidential inaugural address, AKAmamma has decided to advocate change, both big and small.

No Need to Despair Coffee Lovers

Change is Good…For Everyone

I would just like to remind readers that I am not advocating a boycott of Tim Hortons or any other company selling take-out coffee. I’m merely asking you to consider the fate of the disposable paper cup.

You may have heard reports in the media that TH paper cups are recyclable. Just remember that the term "recyclable" means that a cup can be recycled if the facility exists in the municipality where it is discarded. For instance, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has three facilities that recycle polystyrene (number 6 in the recycling symbol). Yet, no such facility exists in the Greater Montreal Area, Canada's second largest city.

Under the FAQs for Investors on the Tim Hortons corporate Web site, the company reiterates this point, "The Tim Hortons coffee cup is recyclable where facilities exist, such as in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Windsor, Ontario. The biggest challenge is that recycling capabilities, options and requirements vary significantly between municipalities."

This means that in Moncton and Windsor, they have the facility to recycle the cups. Can they recycle the polystyrene lid? What happens if the lid and the cup are not separated? In other words, you may wonder how much recycling is actually going on?

If in doubt, consult your municipality’s Web site to see exactly what can be recycled in your area.

And all you self-confessed caffeine addicts need not forgo your dose of java. Just bring your own cup or frequent places that serve coffee in a porcelain mug.

Vote for Change

I heard from Greta Najcler, the Manager of Environmental Affairs, at Tim Hortons, and I am pleased to report that I got some answers to my questions via e-mail.

For starters, I asked whether TH paper cups where coated with a biodegradable, compostable film. Ms. Najcler replied, “Cups do not need to be lined with a biodegradable or compostable plastic to be accepted in a compost facility. Our cups have a thin polyethylene film on the inside (industry standard) and are accepted in some composting facilities across Canada.” (Polyethylene is a thermoplastic).

I contacted Sabrina Charron at RECYC-Quebec to verify this. She said that cups with a thermoplastic coating may be composted if they are not rejected in the screening process. My best bet, she said, was to contact individual composting facilities. Hmm…

As the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is Canada’s largest urban centre and Timmie’s premier market, I contacted the York, Halton, Peel and Durham regions, four GTA municipalities, and the City of Toronto to see if TH paper coffee cups were accepted in their curbside composting programs.

Short answer: York, Halton and the City of Toronto do accept paper coffee cups as long as the lids have been removed. Peel and Durham do not.

Admittedly, it may be excessive to expect one company to come up with a different cup model to suit the diverse waste diversion capacities of our municipalities. Maybe we should use our voting power to demand that our provincial governments implement a policy requiring some uniformity in our municipal recycling and composting programs so that one cup fits all.

It’s Time to Overcome Our Reluctance to Change

Initially, my proposal was to ask Tim Hortons to give a 30-cent discount to customers bringing their own cup as an incentive to change consumer habits and significantly reduce the number of paper cups going to landfill sites. Given that TH commands 75% of the coffee market and boasts of customer loyalty bordering on obsession, I thought that the company was in an ideal position to effect change...

This was not a novel idea. Awash in a sea of paper coffee cups, the City of Toronto asked that a mere 20-cent discount be given to customers bringing their own cups. The request, as reported in the Toronto Star, was not taken lightly.

"Tim Hortons currently offers 10 cents for customers who bring a mug, and that's about how much that's saved by not having to supply a cup, according to the industry. Forcing shops to dole that much out would eat into profits, they said."

Alas, I surmise that my proposal would fall on deaf ears.

In the same article, Nick Javor, Senior VP of Tim Hortons, stated that the company already made a contribution to recycling efforts. I later learned from the TH Environmental Affairs office that TH and other businesses collectively pay for 50% of the Blue Box program in Ontario, in addition to its own recycling services.

We may have to wait until April to find out the outcome of the Timmie’s vs. the City of Toronto saga, but change is in the air.

In the next post, AKAmamma will look at an unsightly consequence of success and some of Tim Hortons environmental initiatives.