Staff Writer
McDonald’s is ditching it’s plastic cutlery in favour of paper cutlery in their UK restaurants, including its Winchester Street store from today.
The fast-food giant says it serves 858 metric tonnes of plastic each year, but experts believe that figure is much higher.
The company says their new cutlery made from ‘resilient, renewable, certified pressed-paper’ will be fully recyclable and compostable.
The move follows the introduction of paper-based straws for many of their drinks. However, their drinks continue to be served using plastic lids.
Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Tesco have historically been among those responsible for 65% of packaging picked up a litter across the country, according to environmental group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest plastic polluter is – perhaps ironically – a sponsor of the COP27 climate change convention in Egypt.
The new McDonald’s cutlery is being rolled out in restaurants across England from today, following a test in Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland recently.
Nina Prichard, head of sustainable and ethical sourcing at McDonald’s, said, “As a business, we’re committed to taking action on packaging and waste and increasing our use of sustainable materials”.
In June this year, nearly half of all McDonald’s shareholders (representing more than $51billion in market value) supported a resolution that requested the company establish concrete actions to combat plastic pollution.
The ‘As You Sow’ consortium said McDonald’s is “a cultivator of wasteful ‘to-go’ packaging culture”.
Andy Munns
