Tim Hortons restaurants across Canada will be introducing wooden and fibre cutlery for guests, eliminating an estimated use of 90 million single-use plastics a year, starting in early 2023. The wooden cutlery and fibre spoon are both compostable. In another move to reduce the use of single-use plastics, plastic lids on Loaded Bowls are also being replaced with fibre lids.
And beginning in early 2023, Tim Hortons restaurants will shift to a new breakfast and lunch wrapper with an efficient design that uses 75% less material than the prior wrap box, which is estimated to save more than 1,400 tonnes of material a year.
Tim Hortons is also now trialing a fibre hot beverage lid that is plastic-free and recyclable. The goal of the trial, which will run for approximately twelve weeks in the City of Vancouver, is to develop products that are alternatives to plastic and easier to recycle and repurpose while still offering a great guest experience.
"Through our sustainability platform Tims for Good, we're always looking for ways, big and small, to make thoughtful choices on material and design in order to reduce and eliminate packaging and contribute to more sustainable innovation," says Paul Yang, Senior Director of Procurement, Sustainability and Packaging at Tim Hortons.
Tim Hortons restaurants will also eliminate the use of all single-use plastic bags and will begin offering guests reusable bags for purchase starting in January next year.
In Vancouver, Tim Hortons continues to work on a pilot project in partnership with Return-It that gives guests the option of paying a deposit for a reusable and returnable cup so they can be a part of our mission to reduce single-use waste. Since launching in May at 10 restaurants, the pilot project has grown to also include nine public bins for returning cups and a total of more than 60 cup return points across the city, including two more Tim Hortons restaurants that are trialing the pilot located at 650 Georgia Street West and 107-505 Burrard Street in Vancouver.
