MESA, Ariz. – February 23, 2016 – Mesa Community College (MCC) Urban Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture programs and McDonald’s are partnering in a new coffee grounds recycling initiative to help its gardens grow. MCC Urban Horticulture faculty pick up used coffee grounds weekly from the Southern & Longmore McDonald’s restaurant and add them to the school’s urban garden compost.
The initiative is part of McDonald’s “Good Neighbor Good Grounds” recycling program, designed to divert used coffee grounds from the waste stream by promoting the reuse of coffee grounds to add nutrients to soil or compost. McDonald’s restaurants throughout Arizona are teaming up with schools and colleges statewide to recycle their used coffee grounds and help their gardens grow.
Mesa McDonald’s owner Geoff Coulston stated that Arizona restaurants participating in the coffee grounds recycling program expect to divert thousands of pounds of waste from going into the waste stream. As a result of the new recycling partnership with MCC Urban Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture programs, he estimates that 10,000 pounds of waste per year from his restaurant may be saved.
“The MCC Urban Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture programs provide students with hands-on training in urban farming and sustainable agriculture,” said Peter Conden, director of the MCC Urban Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture programs. “We welcome this recycling partnership with McDonald’s and look forward to expanding sustainable efforts with other businesses as well.”
“Our McDonald’s restaurants serve a lot of coffee,” said Coulston. “The opportunity to partner with schools and colleges in our communities to reduce our coffee grounds waste is a win for everyone. Concern for the environment is important to us as well as our customers. We practice responsible coffee sourcing. The majority of our certified coffee purchases are from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms, including 100% of our espresso in the U.S.
Our restaurants work hard to reuse, reduce and recycle,” he continued. “We also currently recycle used cooking oil in nearly all of our restaurants. Our napkins are made out of 100% recycled content and we are the first in the industry to have the “How2Recycle” label on many of our recyclable packages, bags and clear cups. We’ve also set a time-bound goal to achieve 100% of our packaging from certified or recycled sources by the year 2020.”
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Contacts:
Rhonda Grundemann, The Grundemann Group, 602-739-8810, rhonda@grundemanngroup.com
or
Dawn Zimmer, 480-461-7892, dawn.zimmer@mesacc.edu
About McDonald's of Arizona
The 300 McDonald's restaurants in the state of Arizona annually feed $283.6 million into the Arizona economy and employ 13,853 people. We make good food that is served fast, with a focus on responsible sourcing. Our supply chain includes suppliers of all sizes including family-owned farms and ranches in Arizona. In 2014, McDonald’s spent more than $12 million on locally sourced food, purchasing 16.6 million pounds of lettuce and 1.1 million pounds of beef.
About McDonald's
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 27 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. Customers can now log online for free at approximately 11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald's U.S. restaurants. For more information, visitwww.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Mesa Community College is nationally recognized for its service-learning, civic engagement and innovative educational programs, which include university transfer, career and technical, workforce development, and life-long learning. Host to 40,000 students annually, MCC offers more than 195 degrees and certificate programs at its two campuses and additional locations. MCC’s student body hails predominantly from the East Valley of Phoenix and includes Veteran, American Indian and International students who enrich the learning experience. Award-winning faculty are dedicated to student success providing the education and training that empowers MCC students to compete locally and globally. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, MCC is one of 10 colleges that comprise the Maricopa County Community College District. The District also includes the Maricopa Corporate College and two skill centers. For additional information, visit mesacc.edu.
Mesa Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) http://www.ncahlc.org, 800-621-7440.
The Maricopa County Community College District is an EEO/AA institution and an equal opportunity employer of protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.