Taco Bell and TerraCycle Celebrate 4 Years of Sustainability

TRENTON, N.J. (April 16, 2025) — It started with a simple question: What happens to all those beloved Taco Bell® sauce packets after they’ve done their job? Four years ago, Taco Bell and TerraCycle® teamed up to find out—and created a one-of-a-kind recycling program.

The program first took shape in 2021 around one iconic item: the Taco Bell sauce packet. In 2024, the initiative expanded to include all brands of empty sauce packets, sauce containers, lids and coffee creamer pods. The result? The Taco Bell US Sauce Container Recycling Program now gives even more single-serve packaging a way to be responsibly collected and recycled, keeping it out of landfills and incinerators.

Since launch, the Taco Bell US Sauce Container Recycling Program has helped fans recycle this hard-to-recycle packaging—including all brands of empty sauce packets, sauce containers, lids and coffee creamer pods—items that typically aren’t accepted by curbside recycling services. In the four years since the introduction of the recycling program, enough sauce packets and sauce containers have been collected so that if they were placed end to end, they would be 10 times longer than the Las Vegas Strip. Additionally, the program has also raised more than $16,000 for schools and nonprofits through TerraCycle Recycling Rewards™.

Participation in the Taco Bell Sauce Container US Recycling Program is free and easy. U.S. fans can sign up on the program page at www.terracycle.com, collect all brands of empty sauce packets, containers, lids, and coffee creamer pods in any cardboard box they have on hand, then download a prepaid UPS shipping label to send it in. Once received, the items are sorted by material type, cleaned, and recycled into raw materials that can be used to make new products such as shipping pallets, outdoor furniture, and storage containers. 

“At TerraCycle, we develop recycling solutions for items that aren’t typically accepted through municipal services,” said Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle. “Recycling programs like the Taco Bell Sauce Container US Recycling Program give consumers a simple way to take action on hard-to-recycle packaging—offering a responsible solution that keeps single-serve items out of landfills and incinerators.”

With every shipment of accepted materials sent through the Taco Bell Sauce Container US Recycling Program, participants earn TerraCycle Recycling Rewards™ points that can be donated to a nonprofit, school or charitable organization of their choice, like the Taco Bell Foundation. The Taco Bell Sauce Container US Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office or community group. For more information, visit www.terracycle.com.

About TerraCycle 

TerraCycle is an international leader in innovative sustainability solutions, creating and operating first-of-their-kind platforms in recycling, recycled materials, and reuse. Across 21 countries, TerraCycle is on a mission to rethink waste and develop practical solutions for today’s complex waste challenges. The company engages an expansive multi-stakeholder community across a wide range of accessible programs, from Fortune 500 companies to schools and individuals. To learn more about TerraCycle and join them on their journey to move the world from a linear economy to a circular one, please visit www.terracycle.com.