McDonald’s reusable cup trial in the U.K. will be the first example of the fledgling Loop program trying its hand outside the grocery sector. Until now, it has focused on providing e-commerce grocery delivery in reusable, refillable packaging in parts of the United States, the U.K., and France. A company spokesperson said Loop remains on track to continue expanding those efforts. The partnership reflects the company’s propensity toward brand name partnerships, which stem from Loop’s need to increase the ubiquity of the service and achieve scale quickly. In a June interview, TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky hinted at the future partnership without naming the company, and said his vision was for the restaurant’s locations to act as collection points for any type of container purchased from any of Loop’s programs. “When they put Loop everywhere, it's going to send a message," he said at the time.

It’s a bit of an understatement to say that health concerns are currently driving consumer behaviors and purchases in today’s marketplace. Research conducted by Paris-based Ipsos in July showed that 85% of consumers are concerned about the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the Washington, D.C.-based International Food Information Council, that same percentage of consumers (85%) reported that they’ve changed the way they eat or prepare food in the wake of the pandemic. While the novel coronavirus is a major, and arguably overriding, worry, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t making decisions based on other timely situations, from social issues to environmental concerns.

With the restaurant industry currently being reinvented with to-go-first experiences in mind, there’s cause to worry that the shift will add even more single-use cups, straws, and boxes to our already bulging landfills. So it makes for a small silver lining that McDonald’s today announced a partnership with Terracycle’s zero-waste platform Loop to pilot a reusable cup model. The program will first be trialed at select McDonald’s in the UK in 2021. For a small deposit, customers will get a reusable Loop cup for their hot beverages. The deposit can be redeemed by returning the cup to any participating McDonald’s location, according to today’s press release. Loop will retrieve the used cups, wash them, and return them to the cycle. As to whether this reusable cup program will make its way to the States, a McDonald’s spokesperson said, “The feedback collected through these packaging trials will help inform which options are scaled up or adopted in other countries around the world.”

Kroger’s Simple Truth is the first store brand to develop a recycling program with TerraCycle, a company that for several years has been helping retailers and consumer goods brands recycle products that aren’t traditionally recyclable. The Simple Truth Recycling Program centers on its flexible packaging that’s not accepted in the curbside bin, including produce bags, bread bags and plastic overwrap found on items like tissue boxes and bottled water.

If you visit a McDonald’s in the U.K. early next year, you might notice a new option if you get a hot drink like coffee or hot chocolate: Instead of a typical disposable cup, you’ll have the choice to walk away with a reusable plastic cup and lid that you can later put in a special bin to be collected and sterilized for another customer. “Reuse is a really interesting, important tool in a suite of tools that we will need, and we’re exploring as we look to keep waste out of nature,” says Jenny McColloch, vice president of global sustainability at McDonald’s Corporation. The company is the first in the food service industry to partner with Loop, a company that also pioneered a new system of reusable packaging for mainstream consumer products like shampoo and ice cream from major brands. The pilot will test how Loop’s system could work in the context of fast food.

TRENTON, N.J. – Bimbo Bakeries USA, the largest baking company in the United States, has partnered with international recycling leader TerraCycle to make their bread, buns, bagels and English muffin bags in the United States nationally recyclable.   As an added incentive, for every pound of packaging waste sent to TerraCycle through the Bimbo Bakeries USA Bag Recycling Program, collectors earn points that can be used for charitable gifts or converted to cash and donated to non-profit organizations of their choice.   “Because plastic bags, like those used in our packaging, are not recyclable today through household recycling streams, most end up in landfills. Expanding our partnership with TerraCycle enables consumers across the country to easily recycle our plastic bags from their own homes at no charge,” said Fred Penny, president of Bimbo Bakeries USA. “This was an important, immediate action for our company as we work toward our commitment of 100% sustainable packaging by 2025. As the first and only baking company to partner with TerraCycle, we have already recycled more than 5 million pounds of waste and look forward to enabling consumers to divert more millions of pounds of plastic from landfills.”   To recycle your empty bread, buns, bagels and English muffin bags, sign up on the TerraCycle program page at https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/bimbo-bakeries-usa, collect your packaging and mail it in using the free prepaid shipping label. All submitted packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “It’s through lasting partnerships like the one we enjoy with Bimbo Bakeries USA that allow us to fulfill our objective and help preserve the environment for future generations.”   The Bimbo Bakeries USA Bag Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization. For more information on TerraCycle’s recycling programs, visit www.terracycle.com.

Bimbo Bakeries USA, the largest baking company in the United States, has partnered with international recycling leader TerraCycle® to make their bread, buns, bagels and English muffin bags in the United States nationally recyclable. As an added incentive, for every pound of packaging waste sent to TerraCycle through the Bimbo Bakeries USA Bag Recycling Program, collectors earn points that can be used for charitable gifts or converted to cash and donated to non-profit organizations of their choice.   “Because plastic bags, like those used in our packaging, are not recyclable today through household recycling streams, most end up in landfills. Expanding our partnership with TerraCycle enables consumers across the country to easily recycle our plastic bags from their own homes at no charge,” said Fred Penny, President, Bimbo Bakeries USA. “This was an important, immediate action for our company as we work toward our commitment of 100% sustainable packaging by 2025. As the first and only baking company to partner with TerraCycle, we have already recycled more than 5 million pounds of waste and look forward to enabling consumers to divert more millions of pounds of plastic from landfills.”   To recycle your empty bread, buns, bagels and English muffin bags, sign up on the TerraCycle program page https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/bimbo-bakeries-usa, collect your packaging and mail it in using the free prepaid shipping label. All submitted packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “It’s through lasting partnerships like the one we enjoy with Bimbo Bakeries USA that allow us to fulfill our objective and help preserve the environment for future generations.”   The Bimbo Bakeries USA Bag Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization. For more information on TerraCycle’s recycling programs, visit www.terracycle.com.

With an estimated 8 million tons of plastic disposed of in oceans every year, plastic waste in the world’s waterways has become a truly global problem. According to the Ocean Conservancy, over half of the plastic that ends up in our oceans come from five countries – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – a result of rapidly growing economies and consumer demand, which have not yet been met with sustainable waste-management systems.   In recognition of this growing epidemic, international Trenton-based recycling leader TerraCycle created The TerraCycle Global Foundation. With generous financial support from The PepsiCo Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, the TerraCycle Global Foundation is a dedicated public charity on a mission to dramatically reduce the volume of marine debris and plastic waste found in the world’s waterways.   “Tackling plastic waste is vital for both environmental protection and economic development in communities across the world,” said Jon Banner, EVP Global Communications and President, The PepsiCo Foundation. “At PepsiCo, we take very seriously our commitment to building a world where plastic need never become waste. We are proud to be the angel investor to create the TerraCycle Global Foundation, helping to catalyze funding others and enable the recovery of tons of plastic waste from our waters.”   The TerraCycle Global Foundation’s work is actively underway in Thailand, where the TerraCycle Thai Foundation, a locally registered independent non-profit, is collaborating with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR). The Foundation has installed river plastic capture traps which are designed to increase the amount of debris and marine plastics that are collected from Thai waterways, thereby intercepting it before it reaches and pollutes the ocean. The devices are part of the DMCR’s project to integrate action and participation into marine debris management.   Through its relationships with regional waste management companies, as well as TerraCycle Inc.’s larger network of research and development, and logistical and processing partners, the Foundation will sustainably recycle not only the waste collected through its own collection devices and efforts, but also the waste collected by all the other organizations participating in the Thai government’s marine debris management program. The end goal is to use recycled waste to create materials that can be incorporated in various applications—from primary packaging for major global brands to applications such as road or construction materials.   “Cleaning the country’s rivers and canals is a critically important priority for the Thai government,” said Suwan Nanthasarut, Senior Advisor, DMCR. “The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is pleased to have public-private cooperation from nonprofit organizations like the TerraCycle Thai Foundation to assist in our river cleanup efforts.”   With plans to expand to local communities throughout central and Southeast Asia where local waste management systems are overwhelmed, the TerraCycle Global Foundation is working to implement a multi-collaborator, circular system of solutions designed to clean up waterways, increase waste collection and capture more recyclable material. The Foundation will also be educating local communities on how their behaviors impact their environment and ways to prevent and reduce plastic pollution.   “Through the Foundation, we hope to lead international public awareness about the need to address river and ocean plastics” said Tom Szaky, Chairman of the Board, TerraCycle Global Foundation. “By directly collecting, as well as engaging with a wide range of NGOs to collect plastic from waterways, and using our recycling solutions to process it into a high-grade material that manufacturers can integrate it into new products, we want to show there is value in these otherwise discarded plastics.”   By capturing marine plastic waste and finding recycling solutions for the collected materials, the Foundation offers a holistic approach to reducing plastic waste to create meaningful, long-lasting change that can be replicated across around the world. To learn more about the TerraCycle Global Foundation visit www.terracyclefoundation.org.

With an estimated 8 million tons of plastic disposed of in oceans every year, plastic waste in the world’s waterways has become a truly global problem. According to the Ocean Conservancy, over half of the plastic that ends up in our oceans come from five countries – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – a result of rapidly growing economies and consumer demand, which have not yet been met with sustainable waste-management systems.   In recognition of this growing epidemic, international recycling leader TerraCycle created The TerraCycle Global Foundation. With generous financial support from The PepsiCo Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, the TerraCycle Global Foundation is a dedicated public charity on a mission to dramatically reduce the volume of marine debris and plastic waste found in the world’s waterways.   “Tackling plastic waste is vital for both environmental protection and economic development in communities across the world,” said Jon Banner, EVP Global Communications and President, The PepsiCo Foundation. “At PepsiCo, we take very seriously our commitment to building a world where plastic need never become waste. We are proud to be the angel investor to create the TerraCycle Global Foundation, helping to catalyze funding others and enable the recovery of tons of plastic waste from our waters.”   The TerraCycle Global Foundation’s work is actively underway in Thailand, where the TerraCycle Thai Foundation, a locally registered independent non-profit, is collaborating with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR). The Foundation has installed river plastic capture traps which are designed to increase the amount of debris and marine plastics that are collected from Thai waterways, thereby intercepting it before it reaches and pollutes the ocean. The devices are part of the DMCR’s project to integrate action and participation into marine debris management.   Through its relationships with regional waste management companies, as well as TerraCycle Inc.’s larger network of research and development, and logistical and processing partners, the Foundation will sustainably recycle not only the waste collected through its own collection devices and efforts, but also the waste collected by all the other organizations participating in the Thai government’s marine debris management program. The end goal is to use recycled waste to create materials that can be incorporated in various applications—from primary packaging for major global brands to applications such as road or construction materials.   “Cleaning the country’s rivers and canals is a critically important priority for the Thai government,” said Suwan Nanthasarut, Senior Advisor, DMCR. “The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is pleased to have public-private cooperation from nonprofit organizations like the TerraCycle Thai Foundation to assist in our river cleanup efforts.”   With plans to expand to local communities throughout central and Southeast Asia where local waste management systems are overwhelmed, the TerraCycle Global Foundation is working to implement a multi-collaborator, circular system of solutions designed to clean up waterways, increase waste collection and capture more recyclable material. The Foundation will also be educating local communities on how their behaviors impact their environment and ways to prevent and reduce plastic pollution.   “Through the Foundation, we hope to lead international public awareness about the need to address river and ocean plastics” said Tom Szaky, Chairman of the Board, TerraCycle Global Foundation. “By directly collecting, as well as engaging with a wide range of NGOs to collect plastic from waterways, and using our recycling solutions to process it into a high-grade material that manufacturers can integrate it into new products, we want to show there is value in these otherwise discarded plastics.” By capturing marine plastic waste and finding recycling solutions for the collected materials, the Foundation offers a holistic approach to reducing plastic waste to create meaningful, long-lasting change that can be replicated across around the world.  

For more information, visit, www.terracyclefoundation.org/.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY – Bimbo Bakeries USA, the largest baking company in the United States, has partnered with international recycling leader TerraCycle to make their bread, buns, bagels and English muffin bags in the U.S. nationally recyclable.   As an added incentive, for every pound of packaging waste sent to TerraCycle through the Bimbo Bakeries USA Bag Recycling Program, collectors earn points that can be used for charitable gifts or converted to cash and donated to nonprofit organizations of their choice.   Bimbo Bakeries USA has a branch in Valdese.   “Because plastic bags, like those used in our packaging, are not recyclable today through household recycling streams, most end up in landfills,” said Fred Penny, president of Bimbo Bakeries USA. “Expanding our partnership with TerraCycle enables consumers across the country to easily recycle our plastic bags from their own homes at no charge. This was an important, immediate action for our company as we work toward our commitment of 100 percent sustainable packaging by 2025. As the first and only baking company to partner with TerraCycle, we have already recycled more than 5 million pounds of waste and look forward to enabling consumers to divert more millions of pounds of plastic from landfills.”   To recycle your empty bread, buns, bagels and English muffin bags, sign up on the TerraCycle program page at https://bit.ly/31DSwtq, collect your packaging and mail it in using the free prepaid shipping label. All submitted packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “It’s through lasting partnerships like the one we enjoy with Bimbo Bakeries USA that allow us to fulfill our objective and help preserve the environment for future generations.”