Recycling at Restaurants McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A

What is your ecological footprint? www.bestfootforward.com/footprintlife.htm

What is recycling? Recycling- the collection, processing, and reuse of materials that would otherwise be thrown away (Encarta)

Effects of Recycling If food packaging indicates that it is made from recycled materials 43 percent of consumers are more willing to buy it (Arthur)

Percent of Market Share Statistics 50.3% of all paper consumed in 2003 was recovered for recycling (Waste Age) Percent of Market Share       McDonald's   43.1% Burger King  18.8% Wendy’s        12.7% Jack In The Box   4.4% Hardee's     4.5% Other        16.5%

"Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone else – our time, our love, our resources. I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return.” - Truett Cathy

Chick-Fil-A Interview 1. How many bags would you estimate you go through in a day? - “I’d say about 500.” 2. What is the most important thing Chick-Fil-A does to help our community?” - “We promote Christian and Family Values, and we promote education by giving away scholarships to our employees. For Instance, If you work at Chick- Fil-A for two years you can receive $1,000 towards your tuition at any college or university.” 3. How do you feel about Chick-Fil-A using and switching to using recycled products throughout the Rock Hill area? - “I think it would be a good idea, that way we can save trees by making our bags out of recycled paper and contribute to recycling in our community.” 4. Do you feel that Chick-Fil-A will ever switch to using recycled packaging? - “Yes, I feel that we will switch to using recycled products within the next 5 years. I know Chick-Fil-A headquarters has been debating this issue for a while now. 5. How do you feel about placing recycle bins throughout the restaurant and even at the exit of the drive thru? - “I feel that this would really help our community out with our problem of pollution. However we are not allowed to do anything to our restaurant unless it is approved by Headquarters.” Cam Robinson, Assistant Manger

McDonalds quote McDonald's... Is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day. McDonald's... Is one of the world's most well-known and valuable brands and holds a leading share in the globally branded quick service restaurant segment of the informal eating-out market in virtually every country in which we do business. Serves the world some of its favorite foods - World Famous

McDonalds Interview How many bags do you go through in a day? A thousands maybe less. How do you feel about recycled products? I think it’s a good idea. A lot of people are coming to fast food restaurants so it makes a difference to recycle. By recycling you are saving the environment. Brianna Taylor, McDonalds employee

McDonald's Statistics

After visiting Taco Bell, Burger King & Wendy’s restaurants we discovered that Taco Bell does use recycled bags but Wendy’s does not. However we were unable to find sufficient information to analyze these findings.

Some of the restaurants use the three Rs of waste management. Reduction -Environmental Defense to reduce the amount of materials in our packaging by redesigning items and/or changing the materials specifications. Reuse Eliminated millions of pounds of packaging waste by having food and beverage products delivered in reusable containers. Recycling -to work as an environmental conservation strategy, it must go hand in hand with a market for products made from recycled materials. We are committed to recycling what we can and to significant use of recycled materials.

Proposal to Restaurants Here is a way to get recycling underway at restaurants. http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=brrc/wrp_Create.asp