Page 38 - Plastics News February 2018

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

California may enact stricter Dunkin to eliminate foam cups

recycled content standards for S based Dunkin' Donuts is going foam free, and
packaging Uit will eliminate all expanded polystyrene foam

cups from its global supply chain starting this March.
All cups will be replaced with a new, double-walled
alifornia's Senate voted to require paper cup by 2020, the company said. The majority of
Cstate regulators come up with new the Canton-based fast food restaurant's international
minimum recycled content standards stores already are using paper cups, and Dunkin' said it
for beverage containers, and to study will work with its franchisees to make the transition.
an extended producer responsibility The new paper cup already is in use at Dunkin' Donuts'
(EPR) system that could replace the "next generation concept store," which opened last
state's container deposit law. The month in Quincy, Mass. All New York City and California
measure passed by a wide margin, restaurants will be EPS-cup-free by the spring. The
28-6, with bipartisan support, but it's a watered-down switch will be phased in across the U.S. as supplier
version of legislation the Senate considered last year manufacturing capabilities ramp up, the company said.
that would have imposed tougher EPR requirements. "With more than 9,000 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in
The current bill requires the state agency CalRecycle to the U.S. alone, our decision to eliminate foam cups is
develop the recycled content standards by January 2023, significant for both our brand and our industry," said
Karen Raskopf, chief communications and sustainability
and to report by January 2020 on an EPR or other system officer for parent company Dunkin' Brands Group Inc.
for containers. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Bob Wieckowski
(D-Fremont), called it a "big step forward" because it "We have a responsibility to improve our packaging,
making it better for the planet while still meeting the
would provide environmental and economic benefits to needs of our guests. Transitioning away from foam has
strengthen recycling markets, and look at comprehensive been a critical goal for Dunkin' Donuts U.S., and with the
ways to improve the state's bottle bill."The economic double-walled
benefit is creating markets right here in California," he cup, we will be
said. "The overseas markets, particularly in China, are able to offer a
now closed to many of the recycled materials we used to replacement
ship over there." t h a t me e t s
the needs and
The environmental group Californians Against Waste expectations
praised the bill, saying the state needs a "new generation o f bo th o ur
of policies" that require more recycled content. A customers and
statement from Wieckowski said the state's 30-year-old the communities
bottle bill has not created strong in-state markets for we serve." The company says it has been working on
recycled materials. The legislation came out of a series finding a replacement for the foam cup since 2011.
of reports and hearings convened by executive agencies Its transition will eliminate nearly 1 billion foam cups
from the waste stream annually. In 2014, it made
and the Senate. The bill now goes to the state Assembly. a splash when it went public with its use of Berry
A legislative analysis of the bill noted that California's Plastics Group Inc.'s Versalite polypropylene cup as
container deposit system has faced a structural deficit of a foam replacement, with Dunkin' Brands CEO Nigel
about $75 million in recent years, and legislators noted Travis saying at one point, "I love this cup. It feels a bit
that some community recycling centers have been forced like our iconic foam cup." But at the same time, the
to close. That analysis said a more efficient system or an company cautioned that no decision had been made
industry-run product stewardship program could provide about using Versalite, and that the company was also
a fiscal benefit to the state. testing a double-walled paper cup.

Plastics News Feb ruar y 2018 38