Questions answered
There are 25 questions about “Recycling” in the “How do you operate?” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 1. Why do you need to encase the majority of your products in cardboard? Surely for the customers who eat in your resteraunts, a more environmentally friendly approach would make more sense. `
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Firstly, many apologies for the very slow response to your question, as the site went through a few changes and technical updates some questions had slipped through so thank you for your patience. Please continue to send your questions and check back on the site from time to time for all the latest on Make Up Your Own Mind. In regards to your question, McDonald's is concerned about the environment. The company works hard across all areas of its business to find the most effective procedures and practises that benefit the environment, customers and the business. However, as you are probably aware, it is not always the easiest of tasks to juggle. Originally, the majority of sandwiches were served in the polystyrene boxes. However, as concerns with the environment and McDonald's commitment to it, card boxes were felt to be a better option for all concerned. The company is currently running trials to introduce customer packaging waste recycling in restaurants and is also exploring other opportunities, including the generation of green electricity from waste. McDonald’s does aim to make sure that as much packaging as possible is made from renewable sources. All bags, tray liners and cup carriers are made from 100 percent recycled paper, and the packaging for Hamburgers, Fries, Chicken McNuggets and Apple Pies is made from 72 percent recycled paper.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 2. dear mcdonalds scouts do you use the cardboard boxes you have you mc donalds packerging deliverd in to make more packerging
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Cardboard that is used in packaging the food and ingredients which are delivered to restaurants is collected and sent for recycling once they have been used. The cardboard is taken to a paper recycling facility which then turns the card into a pulp so it can be recycled again into paper base products.
(June 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 3. hello, my friend and i were wandering if you would consider making edible boxes/cartons in which you package your burgers fries and drinks so that we can eat those after we've eaten our food thus helping the environment in reducing waste??
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Firstly many apologies for the slow response to your question, as the site went through a few changes; some questions slipped through the net so thank you for your patience. McDonald's has no knowledge that such packaging currently exists. If you can send us more information, we will be able to supply a more full and detailed answer.
(May 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 4. what products do you recycle to make the mcdonalds cup trays?
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Firstly McDonald's apologises unreservedly for the late reply to your question. There were some technical problems which caused some questions to slip through.
Regarding your question; If you mean McDonald's tray liner paper, they are made from recycled paper, although not directly from McDonald's own recycled products. McDonald's does recycle the cardboard from its restaurants (e.g. the boxes delivered to the kitchens). But at the moment, because the packaging around the food itself is 'food contaminated', it is not possible to recycle in standard facilities in the UK.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 5. I was just reading about McDonald’s plan to burn its waste products to produce energy. It said the power would be used for hospitals etc why not use it to power your restaurants and become self-sufficient in that way? Or maybe you could recycle your own packaging to remake new packaging?
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Firstly McDonald's apologises unreservedly for the late reply to your question. There were some technical problems which caused some questions to slip through.
Regarding your question; The McDonald’s energy from waste project is still in its infancy, so any expansion relating to the programme is very much under review - currently, the energy generated from the energy facility in Sheffield able to take McDonald's waste is only used for public buildings. McDonald's is working to become self-sufficient by trialing various renewable energy technologies. Currently, solar panels are being installed in three McDonald's restaurants, two of which are also taking part in the waste to energy collection (Meadowhall and Tankersley). In addition, wind turbines are to be installed on three of the McDonald's restaurants participating in the waste to energy scheme (Barnsley Stairfoot, Barnsley Drive Thru and Rotherham Drive Thru), though they are still subject to planning.
On the recycling front, although McDonald’s uses 100 percent recycled paper for its bags, tray liners and cup carriers, and packaging for Hamburgers, fries, Chicken McNuggets and Apple Pies is made from 72 percent recycled paper, McDonalds is unable to recycle its own packaging to make new packaging, as UK recycling facilities are not currently able to reprocess food contaminated packaging.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 6. “McDonald’s doesn't recycle used packaging due to left over food residues on the packaging that prevent it from being recycled at standard recycling mills”. Then, “McDonald’s has over 30000 restaurants, over 1200 in the UK.” Lightbulb! As a large, multi-national corp. McDonald’s could start its own ‘non-standard’ recycling plant to recycle the enormous amount of waste with food residue. Maybe you could be at the forefront of a new, profitable and socially responsible industry. So, how ‘bout it?
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Firstly McDonald's apologises unreservedly for the late reply to your question. There were some technical problems which caused some questions to slip through.
Regarding your question;
Thank you for your suggestion. McDonald’s is a partially franchised multinational corporation which limits what can be implemented on a national basis. Where possible, McDonald’s UK has recognised the benefit of a joined-up approach - for example, 80 per cent of its restaurants recycle used cooking oil into biodiesel that then fuels its delivery vehicles.
With regard to waste, there are sadly many issues surrounding the building of recycling infrastructure in the UK. For a start, most franchisees have their own contracts with a local contractor and McDonald's cannot force its franchisees to select a particular contractor. On the plus side, McDonald’s itself has a national waste contractor that services its company-owned restaurants. This contractor has a large ownership of existing waste facilities in the UK but importantly also has the ability to develop more capacity for diverting waste from landfill - the least preferred option. But rest assured, looking ahead, McDonald's is continuing to work on more and better options for environmentally sustainable waste disposal in the UK.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 7. I was wondering what the plastic cups that you use (and most other companies too) are made of, as they don't appear to be marked as recyclable - are they paper or plastic or something else?
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It's a good question. The cups for McDonald’s drinks are made from paper, with a wax coating to meet quality and food safety standards. In terms of recycling, there is always a challenge with 'food-contaminated waste' but McDonald's absolutely recognises the need to protect and preserve the environment and is working with a number of partners to improve its practices right across the business and its packaging use.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 8. I often buy salads in plastic containers with #6 recycle on bottom. Our local dump collects plastics # 1-7 and would take these containers for recycling. In turn, they would become new plastic products. I would like to start a recycling drive in my local town of Barnstable, MA on Cape Cod. I would like a local non-profit to potentially benefit if there is a monetary value for volunteers collecting and "selling" these plastics for reuse...similar to deposits on soda bottles.
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As you may be aware, this Make Up Your Own Mind Website is operated by McDonald's UK and was created to primarily deal with issues surrounding McDonald's restaurants in the United Kingdom, so it is difficult to provide detailed comment on other territories. However, McDonald's shares your concerns for recycling and the environment. Please visit www.mcdonalds.com and click on the 'Corporate McDonald's' link for more information about McDonald's environmental policies and initiatives.
(August 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 9. Do you recycle all the rubbish you can?
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McDonald's takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and is committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill through recycling, recovery, design improvements and re-use. Efforts to recycle customer waste have been unsuccessful thus far, as paper waste that has food residue is not accepted at recycling facilities, and nor are many types of plastic. McDonald's has been unable to find a company to undertake the recycling of its waste. Therefore, the company works hard to ‘recover’ as much waste as possible, rather than send it to landfill. Waste from McDonalds 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. Due to limitations of infrastructure available in the UK, McDonalds is also exploring other methods of diverting its waste from landfill. Encouragingly, three-quarters of the company restaurants recycle all of their cardboard (e.g. the boxes from deliveries) and the aim is to increase this to 100 percent this year. Cardboard is about 25 percent of a restaurant's total waste. McDonald's also now converts its used cooking oil into biodiesel to power most of its fleet of delivery trucks.
(October 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 10. You say that you aim to have all restaurants recycling cardboard by the end of 2006. Did you acieve this?
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It was the aim of McDonald's to have all it restaurants on 100 percent recycling by the end of 2006. It was an ambitious target to achieve to which McDonalds has so far reached 80 percent of restaurants on a recycling service.
When entering into this commitment, McDonalds was conscious of the need to achieve 100 percent without any other adverse effects environmentally, such as excessive transportation requirements. The company is working closely in partnership with the waste management company Veolia to move further towards the 100 percent target and intrusting them to enlist suitable contractors with availability to collect in some of McDonald's more remote restaurants.
(April 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 11. Do you recycle customer's waste?
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Yes. McDonald's recycles approximately a quarter of all waste produced at most restaurants through the separation of cardboard and used cooking oil. The company is currently running a waste auditing programme and is introducing recycling trials for customer packaging waste in restaurants. This poses some challenges due to left over food residues on the packaging that prevent it from being recycled at standard recycling mills, however McDonald's is also exploring other opportunities, including the generation of green electricity from waste.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 12. Why don't you put recycling bins inside your restaurants?
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McDonald's takes environmental responsibilities very seriously and is committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, through recycling, recovery, design improvements and re-use. Efforts to recycle customer waste have been unsuccessful so far as paper waste that has food on it is rejected, as are many types of plastic. McDonald’s has been unable to find a company to undertake the recycling. McDonald’s therefore tries to ‘recover’ as much waste as possible rather than send it to landfill. Waste can be sent for use as biomass, to offset the use of fossil fuels, so the company is looking at a waste-to-energy pilot scheme. Three-quarters of the company 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 restaurant's total waste. McDonald’s also now converts it’s used cooking oil into bio diesel to power most of its fleet of delivery trucks.
(June 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 13. Do you recycle any of your packaging? For example, the Happy Meal boxes, once the contents are eaten, usually go straight in the bin. They are usually still in pristine condition if the meal has been eaten in the restaurant! Tray liners are another item that get thrown away. In fact, just about all your packaging could be recycled instead of binned!
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At the moment McDonald’s doesn't recycle used packaging as this poses some challenges due to left over food residues on the packaging that prevent it from being recycled at standard recycling mills. However the company is currently running trials to introduce customer packaging waste recycling in restaurants and is also exploring other opportunities, including the generation of green electricity from waste. McDonald’s does aim to make sure that as much packaging as possible is made from renewable sources. All bags, tray liners and cup carriers are made from 100 percent recycled paper, and the packaging for Hamburgers, Fries, Chicken McNuggets and Apple Pies is made from 72 percent recycled paper.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 14. why don't you make your burger boxs out of recycleable card/paper like other chains do
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McDonald’s does make burger boxes out of recycled card. Burger boxes are made using 72 percent recycled paper, which is the maximum amount possible due to food safety laws. McDonald’s bags, tray liners and cup carriers are made from 100 percent recycled paper.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 15. You say your pakaging is made from mainly recycled materials but do you recycle your rubbish out of your restaraunt bins?
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At the moment this is not the case. However, McDonald’s is currently trialling different ways to recycle customer packaging waste in restaurants. Recycling of food packaging poses some challenges due to the food residues that prevent the packaging being recycled at standard recycling mills. However, McDonald’s is also exploring other opportunities, which could include the generation of green electricity from the waste.
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