Over the past decade, ever-growing customer demand for green products along with pressure from local community and environmental stakeholders has made sustainability a new corporate imperative.
Across all sectors of the economy, major companies have taken steps to reduce their environmental impact and enhance their green image. With competing brands working to address these concerns, the fast food industry has been no exception.
In the complicated world of corporate sustainability, progress takes work. In some cases, efforts within the fast food industry have resulted in significantly improved environmental outcomes. While in other cases, changes have amounted to little more than greenwashing. This report takes aim at one key area that must be addressed to improve sustainability in the fast food industry: packaging. Special emphasis is placed upon issues surrounding the predominant material for fast food packaging: paper.