As of November 2018, all of the cold beverage cups and lids in our U.S. restaurants have transitioned to polypropylene. We completely removed polystyrene, as well as a significant amount of resin, without compromising durability, cost or efficiency.
We know that consumers are increasingly thinking about their environmental footprint, which is why we at Taco Bell have committed to playing our part by reducing landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions. An important part of our commitment is improving the recyclability of our packaging. Over the past few years, we’ve worked with our suppliers to develop a new recyclable cup and lid for our cold beverages and are currently working on a sustainable solution for our hot cups. We also joined the NextGen Cup Consortium, convened by Closed Loop Partners, to support the development and commercialization of recyclable hot cups.
Sustainable palm oil is part of our Food for All Journey. Currently, we only use palm oil in our Cinnabon Delights®. The partners we work with on this ingredient utilize supply chains certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO is the leading not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization working along the full palm oil supply chain to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil in order to minimize the negative impact of palm oil production on the environment and the communities in which it is sourced.
Our packaging shows we love our food, celebrate style, and are socially and environmentally conscious. To date, our paper bags are made from 100% recyclable and sustainably sourced materials; we switched to polypropylene (plastic) sides containers from polystyrene foam, and some of our food choices are evolving, too. As always, it is important to review the materials accepted at your local municipality to confirm recyclability.
We serve over 42 million customers each week in over 7,000 restaurants – and that’s just the United States! That’s a lot of people, which means we have a large footprint. We have standing commitment to accomplish a few goals by 2025:
Make all of our customer-facing packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable
Remove PFAS, Phthalates and BPA from all of our customer-facing packaging
Add recycling and/or compositing bins to all restaurants, where infrastructure permits
Check back soon for updates on the ways we are working to reduce our waste and increase sustainability, while continuing to serve the craveable, innovative food we have always been known for.