B.C. coffee chain fined nearly $31K for lack of recycling plan

A Waves Coffee cup is seen in this undated image. (Waves Coffee House/Facebook)

A Metro-Vancouver-based coffee chain has been fined thousands of dollars for failing to present and follow a recycling plan.

The $30,891 fine, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, was finalized earlier this month against Waves Coffee. According to a decision from Environmental Management Act director Stephanie Little, the chain, which has 21 locations in B.C., didn't have an approved "producer responsibility plan" to manage its packaging and paper products.

Under the Environmental Management Act, Waves Coffee is required to have an extended producer responsibility plan in place. According to Little, the company failed to submit its plan to the ministry, despite knowing of the requirement "as early as 2020." Little wrote in her findings that Waves Coffee was warned of non-compliance and reminded of their responsibilities in March 2023.

In a statement included in Little's decision, a penalty assessment form, or PAF, sent to Waves Coffee said it found the company "has a history of failing to respond to the ministry, refusing to provide information, and generally being non-co-operative."

But in a response to the PAF, Waves Coffee owner Kavyan Rahmati said he only officially assumed responsibility of the business in March 2022, after his father's sudden death.

"Prior to this date, my father managed the company under my name for logistical reasons, and I had limited involvement in its operations, especially during my youth," Rahmati's statement said. "I understand the need to take responsibility for the use of my name, but the circumstances surrounding its usage were beyond my control."

CTV News Vancouver has reached out to Waves for comment.

Questionable data?

Little explained the provincial regulations are in place to ensure producers "take responsibility" for their package and paper products. According to the PAF, the company avoided annual fees it's obligated to pay, based on the weight of products in the packaging and paper product category. The ministry estimated the average number of coffee cups sold by Waves each day was about 500, which would lead to nearly $57,000 in annual fees to Recycle BC.

But Waves Coffee disputed that estimate, calling it "a considerable overestimation."

"Additionally, it's worth noting that Waves Coffee distinguishes itself by offering dine-in options, resulting in a higher proportion of reusable cups and plates compared to other coffee chains that predominantly focus on takeout services," a response from the company, included in Little's decision, said.

Waves Coffee then submitted its own evidence of how many cups it uses at each location. But four locations stood out as "extremely low," Little wrote. For example, Port Moody was shown to have only used 39 hot to-go cups in all of 2023.

Little said when the company was asked about those low numbers, it responded that there may have been a "technical error" on how the figures were recorded, which Little said "raises concerns of the validity of the evidence provided."

Little did agree, however, that 500 cups per day may have been an overestimate, and instead suggested using a figure of 100 cups per day, per location. With that estimate, Waves Coffee avoided fees of just under $11,400, Little said.

'Challenges related to recycling'

While Waves Coffee was initially going to be fined $40,000 for their contraventions, Little reduced it to $30,891 after recalculating the economic benefit gained by the company.

In its response to the PAF, the company said it wanted to "highlight the challenges related to recycling and waste management" in the province and Canada as a whole.

"Despite our commitment to implementing environmentally responsible practices within our outlets, external factors such as landlord policies and inadequate recycling infrastructure pose significant challenges," the statement said. "I urge the government to address these systemic issues to facilitate broader environmental sustainability efforts across various industries."

In response, Little said she urges Waves "to raise these concerns with government policy staff with whom they have been in contact with since 2019."

"These statements are not materially relevant to the contravention," she said.