White Castle packaging goes brown to go green
January 8, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio — White Castle restaurants will introduce new "green" food packaging in all 412 locations over the next few weeks. The formerly white paper sack and white corrugated Crave Cases are going "green" by switching to brown corrungated packaging and paper. The new brown paper sacks are made from 100 percent recycled material. The new brown Crave Case packaging bears the recyclable icon.
Green inititiatives
White Castle has been committed to environmentally responsible initiatives for years. The regional chain owns and operates three of its own bakeries and employs its own fleet of refrigerated trucks to distribute the flash frozen buns to restaurants in 12 states. They have been committed to reusing and recycling the outer bun cartons since 1965. The White Castle frozen sandwich product is shipped in corrugated cartons bearing the familiar circle of three arrows indicating their recyclable status.
Since 1992, White Castle has used Duro-Last white roofing for new restaurant construction. Warranted for 15 to 20 years, Duro-Last reflects more than 86 percent of the sun's energy, reducing energy costs. Duro-Last is a charter partner in the Energy Star Roof Products Program, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
White Castle division PSB Company recycles thousands of pounds of metal each year including stainless, galvanized and cold-rolled. White Castle recycles approximately 1,200 pounds of recyclable plastics per year.
LED lighting used in 55 White Castle restaurant locations reduced CO2 by 948 tons per year. Each unit retrofit reduces CO2 emissions by 17 tons per year. Annual electricity savings is $2,550 per store from an investment of approximately $10,000 per store.