Change can be hard, but some relationships are not sustainable, like ours with foam cups.
In early 2018, as part of our commitment to serve both the planet and people responsibly, we announced plans to eliminate all polystyrene foam cups in our global supply chain with a targeted completion date of 2020. To replace the foam cup, Dunkin’ U.S. restaurants will use a new double-walled paper cup made with paperboard certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard.
Today we’re announcing that as of December 1, all Dunkin’ restaurants in New England will be fully transitioned to the double-walled paper cup. The New England conversion means that nearly 70% of the Dunkin’ system has been switched to the new double-walled paper cups, putting us on track to meet our 2020 commitment.
Check out the below map for information on where you can currently find our double-walled paper cup:
You may be wondering, “will this new cup still keep my coffee hot?” Our new double-walled paper cup has heat retention properties that are comparable to the foam cup, meaning coffee will stay hot and hands will be cool – eliminating the need for a sleeve.
As part of our efforts to offer more sustainable packaging to our guests, we recently conducted a successful test for a new hot coffee cup lid that is fully recyclable. The new lid is made of #5 polypropylene and can be recycled in cities and towns that offer #5 recycling. We have started to transition our system and are projected to have 100% of our system converted by the middle of 2020. The new lid has the same features our guests love and pairs nicely with our new double-walled paper cup. This transition, along with our move to the double-walled paper cup, will remove approximately 19 million pounds of polystyrene from the waste stream annually. Pretty awesome, huh?
To learn more about our sustainability efforts, check out our 2017-2018 Sustainability Report.
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