McDonalds coffee grounds recycling program, “Good neighbor good grounds”, AZ restaurants partnering with schools statewide, “McCafe school gardens grow!”
From McDonalds Corporate.
“Reducing Waste, Connecting with Community
To make our delicious McCafe beverates, McDonald’s restaurants use literally tons of coffee grounds and espresso beans each year, which can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions when they begin decomposing in a landfill. Luckily, coffee grounds make a great soil amendment for gardening! Recycling these used grounds gives McDonald’s a great way to connect with customers and crew, and further our waste diversion efforts.
To take advantage of this valuable waste stream, McDonald’s USA implemented a used coffee grounds composting program called “Good Neighbor, Good Grounds” in 2015 to reduce the amount of organic waste being sent to landfills. Through the program, participating restaurants re-bag coffee grounds and give them to community members to use in their home gardens or donate them to community gardens. This not only helps the environment, it fosters community engagement and creates connections with the McDonald’s brand.
Over 1,000 McDonald’s restaurants in Oklahoma, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona are now part of this program, including a new partnership between McDonald’s, our franchisees and 150 statewide schools in the Arizona Department of Education School Garden Program! Watch Arizona media coverage on the program here. Recently, the US North West Region confirmed that 380 restaurants are onboard for coffee ground recycling with the community garden connection as of Spring 2016.
McDonald’s Canada is planning to roll out the program in 2016. These efforts in North America build on the great momentum by many McDonald’s markets in Europe to recycle or donate coffee grounds, food scraps and other kitchen waste streams.”
http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/sustainability/planet/minimizing-waste.html
McDonald’s restaurants across Arizona are partnering with schools statewide to recycle their used coffee grounds and help school gardens grow as part of the “McCafé School Gardens Grow!,” coffee grounds recycling initiative. The new initiative is part of McDonald’s “Good Neighbor Good Grounds” recycling program, designed to divert used coffee grounds from the waste stream by promoting the reuse of coffee grounds to add nutrients to soil or compost.
According to Phoenix McDonald’s franchisee Dorothy Stingley, 100 schools with the Arizona Department of Education School Garden Program have signed up and are currently utilizing their local McDonald’s coffee grounds in their gardens and composts. Schools pick up the grounds weekly from their local McDonald’s restaurant.
“I am very pleased that our office was able to help make the connection between McDonald’s McCafé School Gardens Grow! waste reduction program and our School Garden programs,” said Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas. “It is exciting to see these efforts positively impacting schools in so many Arizona communities. This is exactly the type of private-public partnership I would like to see replicated across our state as we look for innovative ways to support our students.”
Stingley stated that Arizona restaurants participating in the school garden coffee grounds recycling program expect to divert thousands of pounds of waste from going into the waste stream. According to a recent waste assessment audit by Waste Management, a McDonald’s restaurant has 29.5 lbs. of coffee grounds waste each day or 11,000 lbs. a year. ”
