The Subway restaurant chain has introduced its salad bowls and lids made from 95% post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials. The move forms part of the chain’s proposal to make its restaurants and operations environmentally responsible.
Subway said the brand is keeping 2.62 million pounds of plastic from hitting the landfills, by using the PCR. It represents about 500,000 gallons, or 10,000 barrels of petroleum needed to make the bowls and lids.
The salad bowls and lids used in the brand's more than 36,000 locations globally, were created using polyethylene terephalate (PETE) by US-based Pactiv, which purchases recycled soda and water bottles, recycles them at its facilities and manufactures salad bowls and lids.
Subway packaging technologist Michael Fox said the restaurant chain has worked with Pactiv to re-design its salad bowls to use less plastic material while still holding the same amount of food.
"Using recycled materials, and reducing the amount of new virgin plastic, allows us to create a more sustainable product that works just as well as its predecessor. And we are able to do this without increasing costs. This is something we are all very excited about," Fox said.
In partnership with conservation organization, The Nature Conservancy the Subway brand is providing reusable Fresh Fit For Kids meal bags with Conservancy themes from 1 March through 31 May.
The reusable bags, available in almost 25,000 restaurants in the US, feature species benefiting from the Conservancy's conservation efforts across air, land and sea.
