McDonald's to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions For Reputation Boost

The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat has embraced sustainability as a key aspect of their operations and has taken a significant step towards conservation.

They have adopted a sustainable solution for drinking water that aligns with Marriott International's sustainability policy.

This plastic-free solution not only eliminates the use of plastic but also reduces carbon emissions by eliminating the need to transport plastic water bottles over long distances.

In collaboration with Lucerne Waters Private Limited, The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat has installed an automated bottling plant that produces sustainable drinking water using biodegradable materials.

The purpose of this initiative is to reduce the usage of single-use plastic. With a daily consumption of 3000 liters of drinking water for its 304 rooms, the hotel has switched to serving water in glass bottles to support this plastic-free initiative.

“We are happy to collaborate with Lucerne Waters Private Limited to develop sustainable solutions which aligns with Marriott International's. This partnership with Lucerne Waters Private Limited marks the hotel's first initiative towards making a positive impact on the environment. The hotel is committed to developing more such environmentally friendly drive that meet such evolving needs and provide innovative approaches to sustainable living” said Mr. Subhash Sinha,General Manager of The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat

The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat's decision to adopt a plastic-free solution for drinking water not only helps to decrease the amount of plastic waste generated by the hotel but also plays a role in promoting conservation.

This initiative serves as an inspiration for other businesses to adopt similar practices and contribute towards creating a sustainable future where single-use plastics are eliminated.

The hotel is dedicated to promoting responsible and eco-friendly tourism practices and reducing its carbon footprint, thus combining the features of both responsible tourism and ecotourism.

Top beverage makers including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Bisleri have begun printing a buyback value on all PET (plastic) bottles sold in Maharashtra to comply with new regulations and help check plastic littering.

Consumers can return empty plastic bottles and will get paid as per the value of the buyback printed on bottles.

While the government has allowed the companies to keep the buyback value flexible, most companies have settled on Rs 15 per kg for PET bottles, and Rs 5 per kg for shrink wraps.

However, some industry officials said the buyback system is not fool proof, and could further complicate the issue.

“There is already a system in place to recycle plastic. What we need to do is make it more efficient and profitable for the stakeholders (such as rag pickers), instead of introducing more processes in the ecosystem of recycling further,” said Ramesh Chauhan chairman at Bisleri, market leader in the packaged water category.

A PepsiCo spokesperson said the company has started mentioning a recycle value of Rs 15 per kg of PET waste on its products sold in Maharashtra. “We are working with Gem Enviro to set up reverse vending machines, collection points and collection centres for PET waste bottles at several locations across the state to enable the buyback programme,” the person said.

Maharashtra enforced a ban on PET bottles smaller than 200 ml and other single use disposable plastic items in late June and gave users three months to come up with alternatives following mounting concerns over plastic waste.

Dr Vijay Habbu, faculty and expert in sustainability and technical advisor to plastic associations said: “The issue of plastic pollution cannot be resolved in singular steps and requires holistic solutions. Unless the the role of plastics in medical, food, pharmaceutical and related industries is understood, the messaging about pollution will always lead to unreasonable action. In taking easy steps of imposing wholesale bans, India loses opportunities to set global examples of managing plastic waste.”

The buyback value printing drive, which Maharashtra introduced as part of its efforts to check plastic pollution, is expected to spill over to other states, with many such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand also hinting at implementing similar plastic use restrictions.

Industry insiders said there is a lack of clarity on where the bottles can be returned — at retailers or at collection centres. If they are redeemed for a charge at retailers, the latter can return the empty bottles to recyclers.

“While the cost of printing is nominal, it is restrictive because we can’t supply bottles made in Maharashtra to any other state, and neither can we bring and sell bottles from outside the state,” a beverage industry official said, requesting not to be named.

Over the past four months, there have been three changes in the plastic ban covering PET bottles in Maharashtra, among the country's five largest consumer states. The state has amended norms for the ban on plastic packaging three times since March.

Industry players, however, insist the solution to deal with plastic waste lies in adopting technology in collaboration with all stakeholders, be it more efficient recycling techniques and solutions or coming up with viable and affordable biodegradable alternatives to plastic.

The Chicago-based burger chain McDonald’s is joining forces with the Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks to develop a recyclable or a compostable cup.

The two are doing so through the NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge, which was created by Closed Loop Partners, an investment firm that focuses on sustainable consumer goods. McDonald’s and Starbucks are founding members of the group.

McDonald’s is committing $5 million to the consortium, bringing the total to $10 million, coming along with the $5 million Starbucks had already committed.

The challenge starts in September, and invites innovators, industry experts, entrepreneurs and recyclers to submit their ideas for recyclable or compostable cups. The consortium will award up to $1 million in funding based on key milestones, and up to seven of those receiving awards will enter a six-month accelerator program to scale their ideas.

“McDonald’s is committed to using our scale for good to Make positive changes that impact our planet and the communities we serve,” Marion Gross, McDonald’s chief supply chain officer, said in a statement.

“A better cup will benefit the entire industry, and we invite others to join us as we move these efforts forward,” Colleen Chapman, vice president of global social impact for Starbucks, said in a statement.

The partnership is not small potatoes. McDonald’s and Starbucks are the two biggest restaurant chains in the U.S.

McDonald’s alone generates $91 billion in global sales and operates 37,000 locations worldwide. Starbucks generated $28.5 billion in global system sales last year and operates more than 27,000 locations, according to Technomic Ignite data.

Both chains operate massive beverage businesses, and their efforts to improve on the sustainability of cups could have major implications for the restaurant industry. Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee chain. McDonald’s is also a huge coffee chain, in addition to the company’s considerable soft drink sales.

The two companies have recently taken the lead in an effort to improve the sustainability those beverage containers. McDonald’s earlier this year announced plans to find a successor to plastic straws, saying it would test paper straws in the U.S. as it moves toward paper in the U.K. and Ireland.

Starbucks, meanwhile, said it would phase out plastic straws by 2020.

NextGen is an advisory council that includes leaders among environmental groups, academic leaders, municipalities and representatives from the paper and plastic industries. The NextGen Cup Challenge will be launched in September. The effort has received more than 1,000 inquiries from companies and people interested in participating.

“There has never been a greater need to tackle the ways in which we source and recover materials,” Erin Simon, director of sustainability research and development and material science at the World Wildlife Fund. She called McDonald’s participation “a strong step forward in building momentum” for brands to work together on solutions.

The drive against plastic is gaining momentum with leading hotel chains adopting a slew of measures  from opting for paper straws and glass bottles to restricting food takeaway packaging to cardboard to eliminate its use even as more states consider plastic ban.

Most restaurant chains and associations, however, sought more clarity from the government on appropriate substitutes, and said eliminating plastic completely would take time due to lack of commercially viable alternatives. They may not have much time going by the speed at which states are looking to control plastic waste that’s polluting land and sea at a drastic rate.

After Maharashtra imposed a ban on single use plastic, Uttar Pradesh has ordered a ban on the use of plastic cups, plastic glasses, and polythene from July 15. Odisha this week announced a complete ban on plastic use in several parts of the state starting from October 2.

Hotel chains such as Hilton, Hyatt and ITC Hotels said they have adopted measures such as replacing plastic straws with paper, restricting food takeaway packaging to cardboard, replacing inroom amenities with paper and cardboard, replacing plastic water bottles with glass, and eliminating all plastic picks and swizzle sticks, to cut plastic use. Hilton said it plans to become plastic free across all its hotels in the country by 2030. “We have already removed plastic straws from all our managed properties in India,” said Jatin Khanna, VP, operations at Hilton India. “Simultaneously, we are at different stages of the process to remove use of plastic in any form from rooms, F&B, operations, front and back of the house and other locations in our properties,” he said.

Hilton will also remove plastic water bottles from meetings and events in hotels across the country by 2020 as part of its global ‘meet with purpose’ programme to offer socially and environmentally responsible meetings, Khanna said. Hyatt properties are stopping use of all single use plastic items, and opting for cloth laundry bags and bio degradable garbage bags. It has stopped usage of water bottles below 200 ml at Hyatt Regency Pune and is using paper straws and glass water bottles at F&B venues at Andaz Delhi. At Hyatt Regency Mumbai, pet bottles used at the restaurants have been replaced with glass bottles, and plastic spoons and forks used for takeaways are replaced with those made of corn starch.

Dipak Haksar, chief executive at ITC Hotels and WelcomHotels, said his chain has been adapting sustainable practices for over two decades now. In 2012, the company replaced complimentary bottled water at its restaurants with glass bottles. All ITC luxury hotels will replace plastic straws with paper straws by October 2018 and are moving to 100% compostable garbage bags by December this year. “The initiatives we have implemented will ensure elimination of the use of plastic material at ITC Hotels by approximately 24 tons per year,” he said.

Globally, chains like Starbucks and Hyatt this week announced they are moving to eliminate plastic straws for of environment friendly alternatives. In India, though, restaurants are struggling to reduce plastic use. Dilip Datwani, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India, said there is no information on what substitutes could be used in place of plastic. “We will hold a seminar for our members this month and are trying to get an appointment from the municipal corporation so that they can enlighten members on what is allowed and what is not,” he said.

Jubilant FoodWorks, franchisee for international quick service restaurants such as Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts, however, said it has implemented eco-friendly measures at all its restaurants in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chandigarh. “We do not use plastic glasses, carry bags and cutlery (spoon and fork) in these restaurants, and have shifted to biodegradable alternatives made of paper and poly lactic acid (PLA)... and we are in the process of proactively rolling most of these measures at our other restaurants across the country,” a company spokesperson said.

Roshan Banan, MD at Ocean Pearl Hotels that runs Sagar Ratna chain of restaurants, said an overhaul cannot be brought about overnight. “We were using cloth bags for our delivery anyway and we are moving to recyclable biodegradable plastics in our packaging, but it is work in progress. It has to be commercially viable. Everything cannot be done overnight,” he said. Anurag Katriar, CEO at Degustibus Hospitality that runs restaurants such as Indigo Delicatessen and Tote on the Turf, pointed out that viable alternatives for plastic are limited, and in most cases they are in trial stages.

Global coffee giant Starbucks announced Monday it is to eliminate all plastic straws from its 28,000 stores by 2020, becoming the latest corporate giant to take steps to combat pollution from disposable plastic.

After months of tests, many of them carried out in Britain, the firm announced the news on Twitter.

The plastic straws will be replaced by recyclable lids that have a small raised opening allowing consumers to sip their drink, a model that has already been road tested on some of the company's cold beverages in the US and Canada.

Plastic straws have proven difficult to recycle, not because of the material they are made from but because they are too slim for recycling production lines to effectively sort through. The new lids, made of polypropylene, will be big enough for machines to recycle, Starbucks said.

"Starbucks is finally drawing a line in the sand and creating a mold for other large brands to follow," said Chris Milne, director of packaging sourcing. "We are raising the water line for what's acceptable and inspiring our peers to follow suit."

The store will automatically offer cold drinks with the new sipping lid, but for "frappuccinos," a coffee mixed with ice, the store will offer paper straws or ones made of a compostable plastic based on fermented plant starch. Customers who prefer a straw with their drink can ask for one.

By not automatically offering straws with drinks, Starbucks estimates it will save a billion straws a year.

Numerous advocacy groups, including Ocean Conservancy, welcomed the move. Several European countries and cities in the United States are mulling restrictions on the use of plastic straws, although outright bans are still rare. In the US, Seattle -- hometown of Starbucks -- is the only major city to have so far banned the use of plastic straws in its eateries.

Pressure from consumers is driving many companies to tackle waste from packaging. McDonald's is road testing the use of biodegradable straws for its drinks.

Hardcastle Restaurants Private Limited, the Master Franchisee for McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India, has successfully transitioned from plastic to eco-friendly and biodegradable alternatives for items used for guest packaging.

HRPL has worked with its suppliers over the past many months and implemented sustainable solutions which enhance customer experience. It has already moved away from plastic in Maharashtra and key cities in Karnataka and is working on a plan for a market-wide change over the coming months.

McDonald’s now gives customers wooden cutlery (spoons, stirrers, knives, and forks) instead of plastic ones. The plastic cups have been replaced by superior quality paper cups. The straws are either made of paper or other biodegradable materials that are derived from corn starch. In addition, HRPL is testing various alternatives to ensure the best experience to its customers. 

“As the leader in the Quick Service Restaurant space in India, we are committed to using our scale for good and working towards finding sustainable solutions across our business.  This is in line with McDonald’s global vision of building a responsible business,” said Ranjit Paliath, Senior Vice President, Business Operations & Restaurant Enablement while commenting on the initiative.

While the restaurant chain has replaced products in its restaurants across key cities in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the company is working on alternative solutions for its delivery segment that can ensure safe and fresh food is delivered without spillage. In the meantime, restaurant associations have requested exemptions from the plastic ban for delivery and takeaway orders.

The plastic ban in Mumbai forced people to order dry food items at homes on the first day of the ban. Takeaways and home delivery of gravies, sambhar, and chutneys came to a grinding halt as restaurateurs are yet to get delivery of government-prescribed reusable containers. Members of Ahar, an association of over 8,000 restaurants and bars, said that non-delivery of liquids hit 20% of their business on an average.

Meanwhile, delivery aggregators such as Swiggy have asked restaurant partners to mark gravy items as “out of stock” or “outlet shut” to minimize cancellations and avoid poor customer experience.

Saurabh Shetty of Krishna Palace at Nana Chowk, Tardeo, said their home delivery business too was almost 50% down. “We sustained Rs 20,000 loss in a day. We are using cardboard boxes in the absence of the new containers. In fact, we will soon introduce thick cardboard paper boxes that don’t get soggy for an hour,” he said while promising that some eco-friendly solutions will surely come up in a week’s time to bring the business back on track.

While pegging Saturday’s loss at 20%, Ahar president Santosh Shetty said, “In a few cases, we are trying to keep the gravy dry so that dishes like fish masala can be packed in an aluminum foil with blotting or hard paper wrapped around it.”

“In the absence of plastic containers, the home-delivery business was badly affected,” said Meldan D'Cunha of Soul Fry in Bandra. Dev Kamath of Madras Cafe in Matunga said while they were not big on home delivery, “We are asking consumers to come with containers to carry sambhar,” he said. Lingappa of Apeksha Restaurant near Fort said, “This area has many banks and we get several orders for items with sambar and sabji. Our business is down 45-50%” A staffer from Civil Restaurant in Dhobi Talao said, “We tried out aluminum foil as containers but it couldn’t hold the gravy.”

A few restaurants have given delivery boys steel containers for all deliveries. Akshay Shetty of Gurukripa restaurant in Andheri said a new stock of green bags would hit the market on Monday. Green bags and paper containers would cost up to Rs 20 extra for parcels. While bags will cost around Rs 10, the paper containers would come for Rs 4 to Rs 7 each, they added.

Foam cups at Dunkin' Donuts will soon be wiped out what the company estimates will be a billion of them each year from the waste stream.

Dunkin' stated that the polystyrene foam cups will be completely phased out from its stores globally by 2020.

There has been push to ban its use, the packaging ends up in oceans harmful for marine life and other animals that ingest it.

Dunkin'Brands Group, Inc., based in Canton, Massachusetts, joins other chain restaurants trying to diminish its footprint.

McDonald's said, “last month that it would use only recycled or other environmentally friendly materials for its soda cups, Happy Meal boxes and other packaging by 2025.”