Sustainability

McDonald's Germany is taking the next step on its packaging roadmap for less plastic and packaging waste, published in 2019. In 30 restaurants here in Germany, the company is now testing the packaging of most of its products in thin wrapping paper. The live experiment will initially run for two months until the end of September. On site, guests will have the opportunity to give feedback on the new packaging. At the same time, kitchen operations will be tested through the new process during the trial period.

To encourage Australians to recycle their soft plastics — such as chocolate and lolly wrappers — Nestle are printing a KitKat-inspired recycling symbol on each chocolate bar along with an explicit call to drop off wrappers at REDcycle collection bins, found in most Australian supermarkets.

The move comes on the back of research commissioned by the confectionary giant, showing that one-in-four people are unaware that they can recycle soft plastics, with a further 17 per cent unaware that soft plastics need to be recycled separately from regularly household recycling.

It is estimated that arable farming produces around 8 billion tonnes of carbohydrate waste every year in the form of discarded stalks, leaves and roots of crops such as maize, wheat, rice, and sugarcane. This agro-waste is normally discarded or burned. Food companies hope to develop ways of converting the into protein for use in products​.

The innovation ensures accuracy in calculations, granularity with data and most importantly, carbon transparency for businesses.

Ready to enable informed decisions in terms of how materials are sourced, packaging is manufactured, stored and delivered, the software can calculate packaging CO2 emissions, for many thousands of SKU’s therefore reducing the time and cost of a conventional Life Cycle Analysis.

India’s propensity for agriculture means that the country produces a high amount of agricultural waste. A NITI Aayog report quoting MNRE data states that about 500 million tons of agricultural residue is produced every year; NCBI data reveals that about 92 million tons of crop residue are burnt.