An innovative reusable packaging system created by McDonald’s recently went viral – being highlighted by a number of commentators as an example of responsible consumption patterns and waste reduction. We spoke with Floor Uitterhoeve, Director for Market Sustainability in Europe at McDonald’s, to learn more about how solutions like this fit into the company’s overall packaging sustainability strategy.
To kick things off, I wonder if you could give us a broad overview of McDonald’s’ packaging sustainability goals and objectives in Europe.
McDonald’s is committed to sustainability across all aspects of its business, including packaging, which plays an important role in reducing food waste and helping to serve hot and freshly prepared food quickly and safely to customers. The company’s ambition is that the packaging and materials used in its restaurants become part of a circular economy rather than becoming waste. By the end of 2025, McDonald’s aims to source 100% of its primary guest packaging (fibre and plastic) from renewable, recycled or certified sources.
In Europe, McDonald’s has already made significant progress towards this goal, with over 90% of packaging made from fibre, and designed to be recycled. Recycling programs are available in over 6,600 restaurants across the continent. Additionally, the company prioritises reducing plastics in Happy Meal toys and cleaning up around our restaurants to help address litter.
And how are things progressing? Are there any particular projects or initiatives that have had an outsized effect on helping the company to achieve its goals?
When it comes to packaging and circularity, McDonald’s takes a global approach while also localizing initiatives to tackle specific challenges in different markets.
To drive material innovation, we work with suppliers globally and test concrete improvements in local markets. For instance, in France, we have shifted to molded fibre lids, which are now being widely deployed, and introduced paper cutlery in the UK.
To drive recycling, local infrastructure is highly relevant. In Italy, we partnered with supplier SEDA and Comieco, the national consortium for recovery and recycling of paper, to collect and recycle paper packaging waste from our restaurants. In Poland, paper packaging waste is treated for contamination before being recycled into tissue paper that we use in our restaurants. In Germany, our restaurant crew sorts customer packaging waste to enable recycling, and in the Netherlands, we are testing innovative post-consumer sorting methods to enable fibre and plastic recycling.
We are committed to scaling successful practices across Europe, while recognizing that each market has different opportunities and networks to drive circularity. We also need to look beyond our restaurants and collaborate with other brands and public organizations to make systemic improvements to fibre recycling.
Recently, we joined The Cup Collective, a Brussels-based program for recycling and capturing the value of used paper cups at an industrial scale, and we plan to expand this collaboration to more cities across Europe this year. We also joined the 4evergreen alliance a few weeks ago to test and scale solutions to achieve food packaging circularity. These initiatives demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and working with other organizations to make a positive impact.
I’d like to get your perspective on the plastics vs paper debate. Does McDonald’s have a preference, or is it relatively agnostic on this front?
McDonald’s is committed to reducing waste and increasing circularity across all packaging materials, including both plastics and paper. While most of our guest packaging globally as well as in Europe is made out of fibre, we also use plastics in certain applications and are working to drive circularity in that area as well. Our global strategy is aimed at removing virgin fossil fuel-based plastics from our guest packaging where feasible, increasing the use of recycled plastic, and reducing small plastic items that are hard to recycle and unnecessary for safety or functionality, such as straws and cutlery.
We recognize that both plastics and paper have their benefits and drawbacks, and we are constantly evaluating the environmental impacts and feasibility of various packaging materials. For example, paper may be a more sustainable option in certain situations, but it may not be as effective at preserving food quality or reducing food waste as some plastic materials. Ultimately, we strive to make packaging choices that are sustainable, safe, and meet the needs of our customers.
McDonald’s recently announced its partnership with 4evergreen. Could you introduce this to our readers, and explain what your company hopes to achieve as a member of 4evergreen?
Our partnership with 4evergreen is aimed at driving circularity of fibre-based packaging waste. As a member of 4evergreen, we have access to a large network of companies with shared objectives, innovation projects that align with the recycling challenges we have identified, and a platform to advocate for effective recycling policy.
One of 4evergreen’s key missions is to increase the recycling rate of fibre-based packaging to 90% by 2030, and they have already published various fact-based tools and protocols for packaging design, sorting and recycling. It is important that industry and governments adopt these protocols and work from a harmonized approach to ensure we can create the right scale to make circularity work.
Furthermore, separate collection and optimized sorting of all fibre-based packaging is necessary to further improve recycling rates, and we are committed to play our part in shaping the right systems that make sense for our customers.
A McDonald’s reusable packaging innovation recently went viral. Could you tell us more about this particular initiative, and drill down into McDonald’s’ general perspective on reusable packaging?
La loi anti-gaspillage, ce n’est pas seulement la fin des pailles en plastique. Observez autour de vous : en France, les changements sont à l'œuvre pour faire évoluer nos modes de consommation et réduire nos déchets. On pousse pour le faire au niveau mondial. Changeons la donne ! https://t.co/sd0YRRv1ko
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 20, 2022
Certainly. McDonald’s has recently gained attention for our reusable packaging initiatives across Europe, particularly in France, where we began offering reusable packaging for on-site consumption from January 1, 2023, in compliance with current legislation.
While the idea of reducing waste by using reusable containers seems like a no-brainer, the mandatory implementation of reusables as the only solution comes with significant operational and financial challenges for our business and the entire industry.
We are concerned about the potential negative environmental consequences, such as increased plastic use and waste if reusable items are not returned or reused repeatedly, as well as increased water and energy used for washing. There also still needs to be more evidence to prove reusable solutions’ acceptance by customers, environmental impacts, and effectiveness in practice.
We recently partnered with Kearney to commission a report that provides a holistic assessment of the environmental, economic, hygiene, and affordability impacts of various packaging solutions. The report, titled “No Silver Bullet: Why a Mix of Solutions Will Achieve Circularity in Europe’s Informal Eating Out (IEO) Sector,” highlights the need for a balanced approach to achieving circularity, tailored to each consumption format, whether dine-in or takeaway.
While reuse may have a role to play in some instances, investing in fibre recycling is critical to drive effective waste reduction and environmental efficiency in our sector, and we are supportive of policy measures promoting and mandating this.
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