Taco Bell will start reusing hot sauce packets

by

This is about to change: the fast food chain is partnering with recycling company TerraCycle to give its packages a “second spicy life that doesn’t involve a landfill,” Taco Bell said in a statement the press.

Specific details about how the program will work have not been published. However, Taco Bell revealed that the pilot recycling program will be launched later this year and that participation will be simple and will involve free shipping. Its ultimate goal is for discarded sauce packets to have an “exciting future as something totally new.”

Taco Bell said it is the first fast food brand to use TerraCycle, a New Jersey company that helps big business grow greener. It worked with Procter & Gamble (p), Unilever (the) and Nestlé to help manufacture reusable packaging instead of disposable packaging that ends up in landfills.

In this case, it collects non-recyclable materials, melts them and reshapes them into a hard plastic that can be recycled again after use.

“In today’s food industry, there is no widely available solution for recycling flexible film packages that are so commonly used for spices,” said Liz Matthews, Taco Bell’s global director of food innovation.

Taco Bell hopes that by 2024, the packaging used by its customers will be completely “recyclable, compostable or reusable” in all 7,000 global locations. Use this pilot program to shape your future recycling efforts.

Last year, Taco Bell claimed to have given up its popular Mexican pizza because of its packaging, which amounted to more than 7 million pounds of cardboard a year.

.Source