Our commitment to
reducing waste
In the same way we specify what goes into our restaurants, we try to control what comes out.
Your questions answered
Where does rubbish such as burger wrappers and Happy Meal boxes go?- Unfortunately recycling customer waste is very difficult in the UK, as paper waste that has food residue is not accepted at recycling facilities, and nor are many types of plastic. So rather than send waste to landfill we work hard to 'recover' as much as possible. For example, waste from McDonald's restaurants in Sheffield is currently being diverted from landfill and sent to an energy-from-waste facility. Depending on the success of this trial, there are plans to roll this scheme out to other parts of the UK where facilities and capacity exists.
- Do you recycle cardboard?
- Yes. Three-quarters of the company owned restaurants recycle all of their cardboard, and the aim is to increase this to 100 percent this year. Cardboard is about 25 percent of a typical McDonald's restaurant's total waste.
- How do you deal with used cooking oil?
- McDonald's now converts its used cooking oil into biodiesel to power most of its fleet of delivery trucks. In order to do this we use a national waste oil collector throughout the country to collect and consolidate the used cooking oil from our restaurants. The oil is filtered and pre-processed prior to delivery to the biodiesel manufacturer. The manufacturer then converts the used cooking oil into biodiesel which fuels the McDonald's delivery fleet.
What you can do to help
We are trying to do all we can and with your help we can be even better.
You can help reduce waste by only taking the napkins, straws, bags and condiments that you need.
Designing smarter
We reduced the size of our bun tray liners by 10cm and as a result saved 84 tonnes of paper last year.
Reusing materials
The delivery packaging used for all our buns, muffins, milkshake and sundae mix are returned to suppliers for reuse. This avoids the use of significant amounts of cardboard.
Fuelling our fleet
Biodiesel made from used cooking oil helps run our delivery fleet. Once fully rolled out, the carbon saving will be the equivalent of removing 2,424 family cars.
Creating energy from waste
McDonald's restaurants in Sheffield send their waste to an energy from waste facility, rather than landfill. The energy produced heats local buildings including Sheffield's impressive town hall.
"We welcome the steps that McDonald's are taking to reduce their emissions as part of UK business efforts to fight climate change."
Toby Crewe, The Carbon Trust
