As Dunkin’ continues to navigate the COVID-19 health crisis, the brand announced Wednesday that 100% of its restaurants globally have transitioned from polystyrene foam cups to paper cups, meeting the timetable established by the brand two years ago.
In Dunkin’ U.S. restaurants, the foam cups have been replaced by double-walled paper cups. The brand said it is also on track to fully transition to new, recyclable hot coffee cup lids in all of its U.S. restaurants by the end of the summer, and is committing to doubling its number of DD Green Achievement™ restaurants (a program launched in 2014 to help its franchisees build more sustainable and energy-efficient restaurants) within five years.
The new, double-walled paper cups, made with paperboard certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standard, are currently used to serve all Dunkin’ hot beverages, including coffee, espresso drinks, tea, and hot chocolate in the U.S. According to Dunkin’, its transition to paper cups will remove about one billion foam cups from the waste stream annually.
While a limited number of Dunkin’ restaurants may still have foam cups in their inventory, the company’s distribution centers are no longer offering foam cups, making only the new, double-walled paper cups available to Dunkin’ U.S. franchisees for use in their restaurants.