To recylce or not to recycle

Tim Horton's is a daily ritual for many of us Canadians. Over the years he have learned to trust and love the brand. And why wouldn't we as the chain focuses on maintaining high-quality, fresh products for good value delivered by great service.

When I think of Tim Horton's, I think of community involvement, fair prices and comfort. It wasn't until recently and as a result of my case studies class that I began to shift my focus on our beloved Tim's. (At least my perception of their packaging -more specifically, the cups)

I always thought that the cups you got from Tim Horton's were in fact recyclable, but it turns out that they are not. I couldn't tell you how many times I have put one of these cups into a recycling bin, thinking I was helping keep my own waste out of a landfill.

I was reading a news release from the company, entitled, Tim Horton's expands Toronto recycling program, issued on November 03, 2008 . The main point of the release was to announce the installation of recycling bins both inside and outside of Toronto stores. These bins would then be taken to Turtle Island Recycling where the waste would be processed for recycling with the potential for remanufacturing into new products like roofing paper or cardboard boxes.

There were a couple points I found interesting about this release. The first was that Tim Horton's did not already have recycling bins in and out of their stores to begin with, I mean, what decade are we living in. I applaud Tim Horton's for encouraging the reduce and reuse ideas through offering discounts to those who bring in reusable travel mugs. But I can't believe that I never noticed it before, in such an environmentally sensitive age that we are living in, one of our own Canadian legends was not supporting the concept of recycling.

The next would be that this was a Toronto initiative, meaning, what about the hundreds of other stores across the country, what should we do about all the non-recyclable products there? I strongly support the fact that these stores should have recycle bins, but what about the products themselves. These recycling bins would be more beneficial if Tim Horton's products could be put into any recycle bin, not just ones headed towards Turtle Island.

I suppose I would like to see Tim Horton's take a more proactive appraoch than a reactive one. Undoubtably, one of the main reason Toronto store initiated these recycling bins was in reaction to the city's plan to crack down on wasteful packaging. I was reading an article in the Globe and Mail that details this further.

I give credit to Tim Horton's for making an effort, and they do make many efforts to better our society and our environment. However, when is this Canadian company that is striving towards environmental leadership going to develop cup technology that reflects the planets cries for more recyclables and less garbage. The problem isn't putting bins into the stores, it is the fact that they aren't investing time and money into changing their product.

I'm being a bit harsh perhaps, as I am just learning that these cups are not in fact recyclable. And there are other companies out there who don't do half as much for the environment or society as Tim Horton's does. But when is the right time to make a change? They are addressing the recycling issue to a degree, but are failing to start at the root of the problem.

I love my Tim Horton's, truly I do, and my point is that so do millions of others. Tim Horton's earns 1.9 billion in revenue a year. It is about time they stop neglecting the issue of waste production themselves and start producing 100% recyclable products.