McDonald’s franchise, Arcos Dorados Holdings, Inc. is expanding its environmental impact initiatives, announcing today an unprecedented partnership with the Israeli company UBQ, which has developed a patented process for converting unsorted household waste into a plastic substitute that reduces carbon emissions. The goal of the alliance is to begin using this new environmentally-friendly material in some restaurants’ items starting in the first quarter of 2020.
“As leaders in our sector we have the responsibility of leveraging our large scale to contribute to caring for the environment and doing good for society. The partnership with UBQ is another step in our commitment to sustainability, as it allows us to replace materials within our operations with similar ones whose ultimate carbon emissions are zero,” said Gabriel Serber, Director of Social Commitment and Sustainable Development for Arcos Dorados.
“The partnership with Arcos Dorados has the potential to change mindsets around waste on our planet. Our innovative manufacturing process generates a zero or even a negative carbon emission balance, helping reduce global warming. Each ton of UBQ™ material produced is the equivalent of the carbon emission reduction of 540 trees,” added Albert Douer, Executive Chairman of UBQ.
To produce this new thermoplastic material, UBQ breaks down unsorted household waste into its most basic natural components (lignin, cellulose, sugar, fibre) and creates a new composite and environmentally-friendly material, through a process which does not use water or emit harmful fumes. As a raw material, UBQ can be made into thousands of applications including bricks, shopping carts, pipes, trash cans, and automotive parts. The material has been developed over the last five years by UBQ scientists.