Burger King®: Returnable is king!

Returnable, disposable – which path leads to the goal? Together with Interzero, Burger King® is putting returnable cups to the test in twelve of its restaurants. The initial findings? Things are going in the right direction.

Aren’t fast food and returnable products mutually exclusive? At first glance, yes, but at second glance? Things are actually different. After all, with both, one thing is decisive: convenience. Both quick snacks and sustainability should work as simply as possible. To find out what a returnable system should look like so that it works on a nation-wide basis and benefits businesses, consumers and the environment, Burger King® is putting this to the test in a pilot project with Interzero. At twelve restaurants in Cologne, when they order a beverage, consumers can decide on whether to use a reusable returnable cup.

"We are all facing the same challenges: how can fast food as an industry become more sustainable?"

Daniel Polte Manager Public Relations at BURGER KING Deutschland GmbH

Creating nation-wide solutions with strong partners

With its experience and expertise, Interzero gave advice to Burger King before its introduction of the “looping” system: and the environmental service provider has also been advising the fast-food giant during the pilot project – and is responsible for all the steps to keep the returnable beverage cups in circulation.

Once the used cups have been collected, they are cleaned according to all of the hygiene standards, before being delivered to Burger King® again.

With the findings from the pilot project Burger King® will create a comprehensive range of reusable options until 2023 – in time for the requirement for returnable packaging according to Section 33 et seq. of the German Packaging Act (VerpackG).

Burger King and Utopia: a constructive discussion

What contribution do returnable systems make to sustainability? What do consumers want? And how can a nation-wide system be established? Interzero regularly brings different stakeholders together – after all, critical discussions help to improve innovations: in this video, Daniel Polte, Manager Public Relations at BURGER KING Deutschland GmbH and Dr. Meike Gebhard, Managing Director of Utopia discuss the issues. Take a look now:

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