Domino’s Pizza Inc. is partnering with its primary box supplier in an effort to increase cardboard recycling, the company said Monday.
The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based pizza company said the “Don’t Trash the Box” program, was created with its box supplier, WestRock, and includes a website with recycling information and a guide for customers in communities that might not accept pizza cardboard for recycling.
“Because nearly everything that leaves a Domino’s store leaves in a corrugated box, we know we have an opportunity to make a difference when it comes to packaging and recycling,” said Tim McIntyre, Domino’s executive vice president of communications, in a statement.
“Our goal is that our customers will set aside any misconceptions they have around the recyclability of pizza boxes, read the facts and put their empty box in the recycling bin – or call their municipality and ask them to add pizza boxes to their collection,” McIntyre said.
To reduce confusion and encourage consumers to recycle pizza boxes, WestRock conducted a research study that evaluated the impact of typical amounts of grease and residual cheese on the process.
Member companies of the American Forest & Paper Association reviewed the study, which concluded that typical amounts of grease and residual cheese do not affect the quality of finished corrugated products.
About 73% of the U.S. population is estimated to have recycling programs available for pizza boxes, according to a Resource Recycling Systems access study commissioned by WestRock in fall 2019. While 27% of the population is served by programs with explicit acceptance of pizza boxes, 46% of the population has access to programs that imply, but don’t say specifically, that they accept pizza boxes.
The remainder are either unclear or say they cannot take pizza boxes, Domino’s said.
Domino’s worked with WestRock earlier this year to increase the recycled content in its pizza boxes from 40% to 72%.
Domino’s also has partnered with One Tree Planted to plant 50,000 trees across North America. Customers are invited to vote on social media for the regions where trees will be planted.
For the second quarter ended June 14, Domino’s net income increased 22.4% to $118.7 million, or $2.99 per share, up from $92.4 million, or $2.19 per share, in the same period a last year. Revenues for the quarter increased 13.4%, to $920 million, from $811.7 million in the same quarter a year ago.
U.S same-store sales rose 16.1% in the quarter, and international stores increased 1.3%.
As of June 14, Domino’s had 17,173 stores globally.
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