TORONTO — McDonald’s Canada has unveiled two “Green Concept Restaurants” in London, Ont. and Vancouver as part of its continuing sustainability journey. The restaurants will act as incubator locations to test new packaging options and recycling initiatives.
The Green Concept Restaurants will continue using much of the current McDonald’s packaging, but will also test items with the potential to be rolled out more widely in the future. The first innovations will begin testing in the coming months and include:
- a fully re-pulpable cup for cold beverages
- new fibre lids
- wooden cutlery
- wooden stir sticks
- paper straws
The re-pulpable cups and fibre lids represent first within the Canadian QSR market. The new fibre lids, will be recyclable and designed to help reduce straw use, as guests can sip from them directly.
“As a leader in the quick-service industry, I’m proud that we’re taking bold moves to drive forward on the important topic of packaging and our environment,” says Rob Dick, Supply Chain Officer, McDonald’s Canada. “We know that when we innovate in our supply chain we can move the market, as we’ve done with beef from certified-sustainable sources, chicken raised without antibiotics important to human health and cage-free eggs.”
McDonald’s Canada is a key partner — along with other leading brands, industry experts and innovators — working to bring fully recoverable hot and cold fibre-cup systems to a global scale via the NextGen Cup Challenge.
Globally, McDonald’s has been on a journey to offer guests more sustainable packaging and reduce waste overall. These immediate enhancements, along with changes made over recent years, will remove more than 1,500 tons of packaging materials from the McDonald’s Canada system by:
- introducing a smaller napkin (20 per cent smaller) produced with 100-per-cent-recycled fibre
- transitioning from a McWrap carton to a McWrap wrap
- eliminated foam from the gravy bowl and breakfast platter
- lightweighting the small hot cup
- adding a “How 2 Recycle” label to Happy Meal Boxes, clear cups and carryout bags
