White Castle System Inc.

Founder Billy Ingram chose the word White signifying "purity and cleanliness," and Castle meaning "strength, permanence and stability" for our brand's now iconic name. There won't be any name changes in the future, but it's worth noting that we happen to think we're pretty green, too.

We're so mindful of our use of resources that we've established a team dedicated to exploring continuous ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. These efforts have paid off, successfully annually diverting over 300 tons of material from the landfill. Just another example of how our small burgers make a big impact.

In the true spirit of sustainability, our Naturally Focused annual report is available as a digital download. If you're more of a conservationalist (pun intended) with your time, we've prepared this abbreviated list of efforts.

• Our brown paper sacks and corrugated materials made from 100% recyclable materials might be small in size but big in scale in terms of selecting environmentally friendly packaging.
• People love our coffee, but composting its grounds makes it even more Craveable. We've initiated food scrap programs turning used coffee grounds and food waste into compost or animal feed, keeping it out of the landfill.
• Creativity never expires, which is why we've donated over 4,000 pounds of retired marketing materials to schools and teacher centers for reuse in the classrooms since 2012.
• More than 92% of our castles have a recycling program in place and White Castle restaurants use a system to deliver, distribute and recycling used cooking oil to refiners of biodiesel fuel. These waste-reduction efforts continue our tradition of trying to conserve and recycle as much as we can.
• Our newest Retails Foods Division facility in Vandalia, Ohio, is LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified gold, reserving nearby acres for vegetated open space; enlisting high-performance windows and energy-efficient HVAC systems for 21 percent energy savings over similar structures; and purchasing green power.
• We've begun retrofitting our restaurant parking lots with longer-lasting, more energy efficient LED lighting, realizing a 54,000kwh per year savings in one region alone.