McDonald’s UK to Implement New Initiatives to Promote Sustainability

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Fast-food chain McDonald's has stepped up efforts to reduce its environmental impact by planning to remove plastic Happy Meal toys and eliminating the use of some plastic products at its UK locations. The company announced that by 2021, every Happy Meal will come with either a soft toy, a toy made of paper, or a book. McDonald’s started the Happy Meal in 1979, and the set meal with a toy has become a staple product of the chain since then. McDonald’s said that the goal of this new initiative is to eliminate the use of over 3,000 metric tons of plastic in total. The company plans to test the initiative by giving customers the option to choose between a plastic and a non-plastic Happy Meal toy. McDonald’s will also launch another program in which customers can donate plastic toys to McDonald’s locations across the UK. The collected items will be recycled into new toys. Additionally, McDonald’s has removed the plastic lids from its McFlurry ice cream containers. This action cut around 385 metric tons of plastic. The company has also started using paper for its salad boxes and drinking straws. McDonald’s, which has around 38,000 branches globally, has pledged to curb its greenhouse gas emissions by 36% by 2030 and to completely use recyclable materials for its packaging by 2025. The vice president of McDonald’s Global Sustainability unit said the chain hopes to incorporate the environmental efforts and programs of McDonald’s UK in the company’s other branches around the world.