Chipotle claims 47 percent landfill diversion rate

Newport Beach, California-based Chipotle Mexican Grill has included recycling and landfill diversion statistics in its 55-page 2019 sustainability report. Those figures claim some 1.5 million cubic yards of discarded materials were recycled or composted rather than landfilled by the restaurant chain, for a 47 percent diversion rate.

The company says its Gloves to Bags recycling program focused on the single-use plastic gloves used by food prep employees. Chipotle works with Revolution Bag on that program to collect discarded gloves for conversion to trash bags that now supply Chipotle locations in Portland, Oregon, and Sacramento, California.

Chipotle’s corporate waste and recycling audit shows highly recyclable old corrugated containers (OCC) makes up some 55 percent of its recycling total. Less easily recyclable used napkins, paper towels, soda cups and lids, straws, serving trays and bowls, and the plastic gloves make up the next largest components.

“We recycle wherever we are able to add services, and we encourage our customers, landlords, suppliers and vendors to recycle and compost as much as they can,” states the company in its 2019 report. “We have a full-time resource, our Diversion Coordinator, that helps us further our diversion programs.” (As of May 2020, a Chipotle spokesperon says the Diversion Coordinator position is vacant.) 

At the end of 2019, writes the company, “Approximately 91 percent of our restaurants recycled (2,383 stores) and 27 percent composted (707 stores). Our goal is to divert 50 percent of our landfill-bound waste from landfills by the end of 2020, against a baseline of a 37 percent diversion rate at the end of 2016 and 47 percent at the end of 2019.”

The full 2019 Chipotle sustainability report can be accessed via this web page.