McDonalds Australia has confirmed the completion of its nationwide transition from plastic straws and cutlery to fibre-based alternatives, which was announced at last year’s National Plastics Summit at Parliament House.
The collective impact of this step has removed 868 metric tonnes of plastic annually from McDonald’s restaurants in Australia, including over 512 million plastic straws.
McDonalds Australia Sustainability and Supply Chain Director Kylie Freeland said as Australia’s largest quick service restaurant, McDonalds recognises its responsibility to innovate and introduce practices and products that improve the company’s environmental footprint.
“Removing more than 1000 metric tonnes of plastic from our system is a pivotal step in our journey to reduce packaging waste and increase recycling within our restaurants,” she said.
“We’re proud to have completed this transition and look forward to trialling further sustainability innovations throughout 2021 to identify commercially-practical solutions that will have a positive impact on the community.”
According to Environment Minister Sussan Ley, McDonalds’ action is a reminder for all companies and all households to take stock of their use of single use plastics.
“We need to cut plastic waste and it is important that more companies step up to the challenge,” she said.
“Some items we can simply do without, others can be replaced by more sustainable alternatives and that’s what McDonald’s is doing in this case.”
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