A woman is suing Keurig, the maker of the "K-Cup" single-serve coffee pods, alleging the company deceived consumers by advertising that the pods are recyclable.

Kathleen Smith, the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit, argues that she and other customers would not have purchased nor paid as much for the K-Cups had they known they were not recyclable. She further claims the plaintiffs were financially injured by their purchases.

The class action lawsuit argued that most cities’ recycling facilities do not accept polypropylene plastic, the material that makes up the pods. U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr., in allowing the case to move forward, noted that Smith had sufficiently established her claims, saying, “the Green Guides state that if a product is rendered non-recyclable because of its size or its components — even if the product’s composite materials are recyclable — then labeling the product as recyclable would constitute deceptive marketing.”

Keurig countered that most customers would realize that the K-Cups are not recyclable everywhere and argued that the cups are in fact able to be labeled as recyclable, per the Federal Trade Commission’s requirements for such labeling.

—Source: topclassactions.com