Dive Brief:
- By 2025, McDonald's intends to ensure that 100% of guest packaging will come from renewable, recycled or certified sources, preferably with Forest Stewardship Council certification, a company newsroom announcement reported.
- A further goal is to recycle guest packaging in 100% of restaurants, also by 2025. Currently, approximately 10% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are recycling customer packaging.
- Prior to 2025, McDonald's seeks to have 100% of fiber-based packaging sourced from recycled or non- deforestated locations.
Dive Insight:
The benefits to sustainable sourcing have become increasingly economic, as sustainability has grown in popularity with suppliers.
In fact, with its switch to renewable sourcing, McDonald's is likely to save more than $6 million dollars, the amount it saw back in 1993 when first teaming up with the Environmental Defense Fund to reduce waste in packaging.
Unfortunately, however, other chains have largely failed to take note of similar opportunities, as only Starbucks currently provides recycling bins for customer waste (yet still relying on plastic straws, a known ocean wildlife contaminant), and Jimmy John's offers similarly recycled packaging.
In addition to its paper and cardboard packaging, McDonald's also intends to eliminate styrofoam in 2018. While currently only 2% of the company's packaging is foam-based, the scale of usage means 2% remains unusually extensive.
Coupled with its other goals, the elimination of styrofoam in the coming year is ambitious, but with a focus on sourcing and the value, McDonald's is in position to manage the switch successfully.
