Fully recycled packaging by McDonald’s

Fast-food giant McDonald’s has announced that all packaging in the world will come from sustainable sources by 2025.

In the current semester, the restaurant chain will strive to obtain raw materials such as bags, straws, containers and glasses from recycled or renewable raw materials.

McDonald’s also wants 100% of its restaurants to recycle packaging so far, compared to just 10% today.

At the time, the British supermarket Iceland promised to significantly reduce its plastic packaging by the end of 2023.

The two companies said customers have an overwhelming demand for greener packaging.

The Solution

Francesca DeBiase, director of supply chain and sustainable development at McDonald’s, said this was the customer’s first order to “use less packaging, be responsible and use it after use.”

In the UK, websites no longer use foam packaging and over 1,000 restaurants have recycling bins for plastic and paper cups.

However, the world’s largest restaurant chain, with 37,000 locations worldwide, indicated that some restaurants may have packaging recycling issues by 2025.

Infrastructure, regulations, and customer behavior are different around the world, but McDonald’s “plans to be part of the solution.”

Friends from around the world welcomed the news, but said: “In some countries like the UK, faster action is certainly possible.”

McDonald’s is already targeting all paper and cardboard packaging, such as hamburger boxes or paper bags from certified or recycled sources, which will only shrink in 2020.

British retailers were asked to pack coconut and cauliflower fillets, and buyers responded to vivid images of plastic pollution on Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet program.

Iceland plans to remove the plastic from the packaging of more than 1,000 private label products when possible over the next five years.

The new ranges are not packed in plastic, but with a paper compartment.

Nigel Broadhurst, Iceland’s deputy general manager, said typical foods are especially poorly packaged.

“It is currently in a black plastic casing. This black plastic is the worst choice in terms of toxins entering the soil and the ability to recycle this product,” he told the BBC.

In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to ban all avoidable plastic waste in the UK until 2042.