You’ll recall that we announced here in the FFB, back a little more than a year ago, that McDonald’s was getting on the bandwagon to eliminate single-use plastic straws, utensils and take-out containers for its menu items. Then, silence for months. But the wheels have been turning…
New McFlurry paper cup and Waffle Cone cup: And, yes,
the new wooden cutlery tastes a bit woody.
What were you expecting?
Now, McD’s has come clean (pun intended) on its efforts to find and/or develop environmentally responsible replacements for most of the single-use plastic items in its stores. This past June, diners at a German McD’s location were served their orders on an array of non-plastic disposable restaurant ware designed to generate feedback from customers. And it certainly did.
For ten days, from June 17 through 26, customers at the McD’s in the Mall of Berlin – temporarily re-branded ‘The Better McDonald’s’ – tried out paper McFlurry cups, edible Waffle Cone Soft Serve and Dipping Sauce cups, new paper Beverage cups and paper straws. Even retro wooden Ice Cream spoons. All Burger and Sandwich containers were replaced with paper bags made from Grass Fibre.
Mixed reviews
McDonald’s new paper straws came in for a lot of criticism. First, they were widely pronounced prone to disintegrate in the beverages they were dispensed with. The Shake straws, particularly, were rated poor. Earlier this year, after a brief test of the new paper straws at UK locations, one Shake fan started an online petition demanding McDonald’s bring back the plastic ones. It’s collected more than 53,000 signatures. A McD’s spoksman told the BBC: “As a result of customer feedback, we have strengthened our paper straws, [however,] while the materials are recyclable, their current thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed by our waste solution providers, who also help us recycle our paper cups.” I’m sure they’ll figure it out.
“Normally, McDonald’s goes out with perfect solutions. This time we said, ‘We don’t have perfect solutions yet… please help us!'” Diana Wicht, Sustainability Department Head for McDonald’s Germany, said in a statement.
I had to smile when McD’s reported that customers declared that the wooden flatware tasted ‘woody’. Everybody said that back when I was just a little kid, in the 1950s, before disposable plastics came on the scene, when all the disposable cutlery was die-punched from thin slices of Birch veneer. It’s an interesting proof of the old adage that ‘what goes around comes around’.
More-sustainable disposables in testing elsewhere
McDonald’s UK is currently starting to phase in paper straws as part of its pledge to replace all single use plastics by 2025. McD’s regional organizations in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are also testing replacements for plastics.
We’ll keep you up-to-date.
~ Maggie J.