Dunkin’ Donuts To Phase Out Foam Cups by 2020
Waste & Recycling | 2018-02-14 22:35:15
The decision to replace the foam cups is the result of years of campaign by the advocacy group As You Sow. The group had long been asking Dunkin’ Donuts to replace EPS cups with alternative recyclable material.
By Paul Ploumis
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Fast food chain Dunkin’ Donuts has announced its decision to start eliminating the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) drink cups from its worldwide retail outlets beginning this spring. The new cups will be comprised of paperboards that are certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard. The company aims to completely phase out the use of foam cups worldwide by 2020. This in turn would eliminate nearly 1 billion foam cups from waste stream every year.
Currently, majority of its stores in international markets use paper cups. In line with this, the company will replace the EPS drink cups in the US with double-walled paper cups beginning this spring. Further, it will collaborate with franchisees all over the world to ensure that foam cups are eliminated from every remaining international market latest by 2020.
The decision to replace the foam cups is the result of years of campaign by the advocacy group As You Sow. The group had long been asking Dunkin’ Donuts to replace EPS cups with alternative recyclable material. Meantime, the advocacy group noted that it was surprised by the company’s decision to replace EPS cups with paper, especially when it had better alternatives including polypropylene (PP) plastic cups.
ALSO READ: Polstyrene Foam Recycling Would Be a Boon to New York City's Small Businesses
According to As You Sow, the PP cups would have been a better choice, mainly because of its better recyclability feature. As paper cups allow heat to pass through it, the company might require providing paperboard sleeve to customers to protect their hand from the heat. The manufacture of paper cups and paperboard sleeves consumes excessive volume of water. Dunkin’ Donuts should have done adequate research before selecting paper cups as the alternative solution, the group noted. On the other hand, Dunkin’ Donuts claimed that the paper cups will be just hot as its current foam cups and that paperboard sleeves would not be required to hold them.
