McDonald’s reduces the use of plastic and switches to wooden cutlery

Wpis dostępny jest także w języku: polski

McDonald’s has decided to replace plastic cutlery with wooden ones. This strategy will reduce the use of plastic by 220 tonnes per year. This is one of the pro-environmental changes that the company intends to implement until 2025 when the restaurant chain will use only packaging that is recycled or comes from certified sources.

McDonald’s continues the implementation of the EU Parliament and Council Directive of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, and has already started using wooden cutlery in all restaurants in Poland from July 2021. The chain has been introducing paper straws and packaging for selected products such as cups and bowls since 2020, and currently, as much as 70% of the waste generated by restaurants is recyclable. The result is a total reduction of plastic consumption by 825 tons this year alone. Although the chain still uses packaging made of plastic, it does not exceed 5% of the packaging used.

The restaurant chain is committed to recycling and encourages its guests to do so

In every McDonald’s restaurant in Poland, there are appropriate recycling bins, and the waste is passed on to the Miklan-Ryza company thanks to which it can be recycled. By the end of 2021 as many as 386 McDonald’s restaurants in Poland will use only recycled paper towels. Currently, such a solution is used in 130 restaurants in Poland.

McDonald’s is one of several chains that have decided to implement long-term strategies for climate protection. Similar solutions, which aim to eliminate the use of disposable plastic containers, have also been introduced by grocery shops such as Carrefour, Kaufland, or Lidl.