With 12 Taco Party Packs and refreshing Baja Blasts, there is no question as to how Taco Bell attracts over 40 million customers each week in the United States. Unfortunately, each of these orders presents a more pressing issue: sustainable packaging.
Each year, only 29% of all fast-food containers and packaging are recovered. The rest accumulates in landfills, unable to serve another purpose in their lifetime. Fortunately, Taco Bell wants to address the issue of sustainable packaging.
Kicking 2020 off with a bang, the fast-food giant recently released a plan promising a sustainable mindset. Here’s what its plan is all about.
Sustainable Packaging: Recyclable, Compostable, and Reusable Products Only
Last week, Taco Bell announced its goal to make all consumer-facing packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025 world wide.
With 7,000 stores open across the globe, the company sits as one of the largest fast-food corporations in the world. However, with this comes great environmental responsibility. Fortunately, Mark King, Taco Bell’s CEO, is already preparing for the company’s future.
In his own words, “As Taco Bell expands its footprint, our responsibility to drive positive impact increases.”
Credit: Washington Speakers Bureau
King adds, “Our business growth in the last decade has positioned us to create change for good and implement creative solutions for our planet, our people and our food. We’re excited to shake things up and make 2020 even more about what matters most: our purpose”.
Fast-Food Giant Eliminates Chemicals and Adds In-Store Recycling Opportunities
In order to achieve its goal for sustainable packaging, Taco Bell is altering many of its products.
Moving forward, several things such as fountain drink cups to paper bags will no longer have PFAS, Phthalates, and BPA. Despite being found in many food packaging, there is an unsettling link between these chemicals and multiple negative health effects.
For example, research suggests that BPA, or bisphenol A, may cause cancer and affect brain development in the womb.
By doing so, the brand strives to increase its products’ ability to be recycled, compostable, or reusable. Taco Bell did not release any information on what materials they will be using in its future packaging.
In addition to this, Taco Bell will also be offering sustainable in-store options in the near future. As of right now, these changes include implementing recycling and/or composting bins into all restaurants (where infrastructure permits).
However, there is a possibility that the restaurant will soon be supplying reusable food baskets for dine-in meals.
Taco Bell’s Previous Actions On Sustainable Packaging
In 2019, Taco Bell banned plastic straws from all of its locations in Romania and Moldova. Unfortunately, the company does not have any official commitments on bans involving plastic bags or foam containers.
Reducing Its Carbon Footprint
There is no doubt that Taco Bell is ringing in the new year with ambitious goals. However, this is not the first time that it has tried to implement sustainable goals.
In 2019, the fast-food giant publicized 7 of its prioritized goals. Surprisingly, almost half of them can be attributed to reducing its carbon footprint.
For example, Taco Bell vowed to work to ensure that all its beef is sustainable, as well as to improve recycling efforts and include menu diversity for those leaning towards a plant-based diet.
Although already having successfully launched new favorites like the Black Bean Crunchwrap, it seems like Taco Bell hopes to continue this momentum.
As another one of its 2020 goals, the company is currently striving to be the number one QSR for vegetarians.
Needless to say, environmental activists, vegetarians, and flexitarians around the globe are all happy for these announcements.
It’s Time For All Fast-Food Brands To Use Sustainable Packaging
With its efforts, Taco Bell is one of many fast-food restaurants to begin adopting a greener mindset. Working with similar ideas, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway have already made sustainable commitments. However, there is still room for improvement in this industry.
Although there are many options for companies to reduce their environmental footprint, there are a few ideas that should be implemented as soon as possible:
- Reduce packaging or use of plastic wherever possible.
- Ditch hard to recycle materials such as polystyrene.
- Like Taco Bell, offer in-store recycling opportunities.
By doing so, monumental change can quickly occur.
Avery is a Staff Writer at The Rising and a Material Science and Engineering student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.