Burger King has said that it will begin testing reusable containers next year to reduce waste from sandwich and drinks packaging.
The fast food chain, which is a unit of Restaurant Brands International, hopes that its customers will ask for their food to come in the reusable packages, pay a deposit, and get the money back after they scan used drinks cups and burger boxes through an app before returning them.
Burger King worked with waste management firm TerraCycle Inc's Loop unit on a so-called closed-loop system that creates no waste because special packages are repeatedly cleaned and re-used. Materials used to make the packaging have not been finalised.
The pilot programme will launch in the second half of 2021 in some Burger King restaurants in New York, Portland, and Tokyo initially.
Loop's "State Of The Art" Cleaning Systems
Burger King said in a statement that its reusable containers will be cleaned with Loop's "state of the art" cleaning systems that are aligned with its own "rigorous safety procedures around cleanliness and hygiene, all of which have become even more pressing during the current pandemic."
Loop's website does not specify what products and processes are used to clean its reusable containers.
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