Burger King restaurants in Ipswich and Newmarket become UK's first to trial reusable and returnable packaging

Five Burger King restaurants in Suffolk are the first in the UK to pilot a new range of sustainable, reusable and returnable packaging from today.

The scheme, which has now started at four restaurants in Ipswich and one in Newmarket, means Burger King is the first quick-service restaurant in the UK to trial reusable packaging for burgers and sides with a 'clamshell' design.

To take part in the scheme, customers will have the option to pay a £1 deposit for a reusable cup or container instead of using single-use packaging.

The trial, which will run for five months until September 5, is taking place at the following restaurants: Ipswich Copdock Interchange; Ipswich Europark; Ipswich Westend Road; Ipswich Anglia Retail Park; and Newmarket Fordham Road.

The pilot launch has been created in partnership with global re-use platform Loop, and features the 'clamshell' burger container and reusable cup.

Customers can choose 10 Burger King products to be served in the Loop reusable packaging including a range of sides, as well as burgers.

Demonstration of how the trial scheme will work

Nicola Pierce from Burger King UK said: “We’re delighted to unveil a trial range of reusable and returnable packaging for our restaurants."

She added: "We’re excited to see how the trial performs over the next five months and help us reach our goal of eliminating single-use plastic within our restaurants by 2025.”

When customers return the reusable cup or container, they can do so by downloading the Loop app, scanning the barcode on either the cup or container and returning it into a Loop bin.

Loop bins will be placed outside the Burger King restaurants, as well as in other locations found via the Loop app.

Customers who return their cups or containers will be refunded their deposit, with all returned cups or containers being professionally cleaned using Loop’s state-of-the-art cleaning system, scientifically designed to sanitise each item before reuse and then put back into the cycle.

If successful, there is potential for the famous fast-food chain to roll out the sustainable packaging permanently nationwide.

A Burger King spokesman said: "The new trial, which will be rolling out across five restaurants in Ipswich and Newmarket, will be closely monitored by Burger King UK, with customer response used to inform future plans for a long-term re-usable and returnable packaging scheme."

The announcement forms part of Burger King UK's plans to reduce carbon emissions, with a target of 41 per cent reduction in value chain emissions per restaurant by 2030 and 0 per cent single-use plastic by 2025.