Operations

Wendy's to use recycled plastic cups in 2022

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October 20, 2021

To help advance the goal of sustainably sourcing 100% of its customer-facing packaging by 2026, Wendy's is collaborating with packaging and plastics industry leaders Berry Global and LyondellBasell, according to a press release.

The partnership will support Wendy's move fromplastic-lined paper cups with limited recyclability to single-substrate, clear plastic drink cups that more consumers will be able to recycle — an important pathway toward circularity. Based on a mass balance approach, the cups will also use 20% ISCC-certified, recycled plastic across all North America restaurants — a quick-service restaurant industry first — with the potential to increase the amount of recycled plastic used in the future.

The new cup set will launch in U.S. and Canada restaurants in early 2022 with the initial set of large cups using recycled plastic; all drink cups will use recycled plastic in 2023. This important first step is estimated to divert 10 million pounds of waste from landfills over the first two years. The amount of waste diverted from landfills due to this collaboration is projected to increase significantly as Wendy's works with Berry to expand recycled plastic use throughout its entire cup set.

Earlier this year, Wendy's announced plans to optimize customer-facing packaging in order to accomplish its sustainable packaging goal. This announcement demonstrates progress toward this goal by improving drink cup recyclability and increasing the use of recycled plastic.

"Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of single-use waste, and we want to do our part as a leader in the quick-service restaurant industry to provide more sustainable options," Liliana Esposito, Wendy's chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer, said in the release. "Today's announcement marks Wendy's next step toward creating packaging solutions that reduce our environmental impact."

Wendy's operates more than 6,800 restaurants worldwide.