With very little fanfare, McDonald’s Corporation announced that it was taking steps to eliminate the use of polystyrene drink containers from its entire system by the end of 2018. The plan is to replace these containers with sustainable packaging materials made from recycled or fiber-based materials or a combination of both.
“Our customers have told us that packaging waste is the top environmental issue they would like us to address,” says Francesca Debiase, a McDonald’s executive. “Our ambition is to use less packaging, sourced responsibly and designed to be taken care of [i.e., properly disposed of] after use. We are also working at and beyond our restaurants to increase recycling and help create cleaner communities.”