Dunkin’ Brands Group (Nasdaq: DNKN), the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, says it is "aggressively" exploring alternatives to the foam cups and pink polystyrene spoons used at its restaurants.
The company offered no specific timeline for replacing the foam cups, but says a recyclable spoon will be introduced by 2013.
The announcement is part of Dunkin’ Brands first Corporate Social Responsibility report, which overviews current initiatives and key areas of focus for the future.
The creation of the report follows Dunkin’ Brands’ membership in 2009 in Ceres, a network of investors, environmentalists and other public interest groups that works with companies to address sustainability challenges. Ceres developed and spun off the Global Reporting Initiative, which spearheaded annual sustainability reporting by multinationals worldwide.
According to the report, only 15% of Dunkin’ Brands’ packaging is sourced from recycled materials; 24% is from foam, 24% is from plastic resins, and 15% from paperboard.
The company has goals to test in-store recycling for foam cups by 2013, and to find a more sustainable replacement cup.
On the surface, lined paper cups (made from renewably-sourced fibers) seems like a simple solution, but recycling the cups requires special machinery (currently being tested by rival company Starbucks), and paper cups actually require more energy to produce than foam cups.
While the company still has significant work to do in sustainable sourcing and packaging, it notes that Dunkin’ Donuts was the first national brand to sell espresso beverages made exclusively with 100% Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee.
By the end of 2010, Dunkin’ Brands purchased nearly 26 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee and delivered $1.9 million in premiums back to farming communities.
In 2008, Dunkin’ Brands opened its first "green" restaurant, in St. Petersburg, Florida, which achieved LEED-Silver certification from the US Green Building Council.
A second green restaurant opens later this year. The company says it’s incorporating findings from its first LEED restaurant to help make its other restaurants greener, and is actively engaged in finding more sustainable building solutions and utility options to reduce costs for franchisees while benefiting the environment.
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I’ts really exciting that they’re taking sustainability seriously and working to replace their foam cups and plastic spoons. And great news about the LEED restaurant- I had no idea. After reading the full CSR report I’m impressed by some of the other work they’re doing- especially on animal welfare and looking into cage free eggs and gestation crate free pork. I hope we see some tangible results in these areas very soon!
Kip44, it’s great to know you took the time to read their CSR report. Their work on animal welfare is extremely important, couldn’t agree more.
There currently is no more sustainable cup than a foam cup and it is 100% recyclable. Foam cups have a lower life cycle analysis and carbon footprint than alternatives and therefore are more sustainable. Dunkin’ is on the right track in exploring recycling initiatives with Foam cups.
There are other stores that have gotten rid of their Styrofoam years ago and made commitments to recycling. CSR report commitments are just that, commitments. Let’s see Dunkin put their money where their mouth is and commit all of their stores to meeting the Green Restaurant Association’s environmental standards in energy, water, packaging, food, waste, chemicals, and green building. Then, we can celebrate something real!
It’s very disappointing that styrofoam is still the take-out packaging of choice. It’s so difficult to make even these simple changes in this country. Styrofoam manufacturing is extremely toxic and it takes many thousands of years to degrade in a landfill. Although it’s possible to recycle it, few communities offer that option, so just about all of it is tossed in the garbage. In the early 90s, many towns banned it, but that turned out to be a passing fad. I’m not particularly impressed that Dunkin is taking a look at the options; companies should be way beyond this by now, but as a news reporting website, we believe it’s important to let you know what they’re doing.