FDI “McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd.”, which develops a chain of McDonald’s fast-service restaurants in Ukraine, plans to completely abandon the use of plastic by the end of 2025, the head of the company’s supply department Oleg Atanov told the “Interfax-Ukraine” agency.
“By the end of 2025, the company aims to eliminate all plastic packaging and obtain 100% of packaging materials for McDonald’s meals from renewable materials. Practices implemented this year made it possible to significantly reduce the annual use of materials. For example, the rejection of paper liners for trays is minus 100 thousand tons of paper per year, the rejection of plastic cutlery and lids for drinks – 48.5 thousand tons per year, the rejection of rubber gloves in the production area – 70 tons of rubber.” , – said Atanov.
He announced the nearest plans of the network for the implementation of circular economy principles. As early as December 2024, burger wrappers will be made of recycled materials with a grease-resistant coating, and McSandy cups will be made of molded cellulose fiber.
Plastic lids for drinks are now issued only at the request of visitors, they will be replaced by molded cellulose fiber lids – for cold drinks in May 2025, for hot drinks – at the end of July 2025.
Holders for glasses made of recycled materials were produced in Ukraine before the war, now the chain imports them. It is planned to resume purchasing from Ukrainian manufacturers by the end of 2025.
Atanov noted that the goal is to maximize localization in the packaging materials group. For example, at the first stage, paper tubes will be supplied from Europe, but there are already offers from Ukrainian manufacturers, they will compete, first of all, on the quality of products.
He noted that McDonald’s is building an ecosystem of partnership and stimulating the demand for secondary raw materials, spreading the principles of the circular economy in Ukraine. The company cooperates with approximately 20 enterprises in different regions of the country, which help with the collection, logistics and sorting of waste.
Every month, McDonald’s sorts and recycles more than 200 tons of waste from the halls and the kitchen: 126 tons of paper, 11 tons of glasses and Tetra Pak packages, 7 tons of polyethylene and other plastics, 60 tons of vegetable oil, 15 tons of organic matter (composted).
As reported, in 2019 the sorting of waste in the kitchens of McDonald’s restaurants began, from 2021 sorting stations were installed in restaurants throughout the country, where visitors can separate food packaging and other waste into the following categories: “paper”, “plastic”, “cups”, ” liquid” and “other”. Paper waste is processed into cardboard boxes, bags for take-out and delivery orders; plastic waste – for creating garbage bags and other plastic products; used vegetable oil – for the production of biofuel and paint; fat from the grill is filtered and processed into lubricants in the chemical industry; coffee cake is added to briquettes used for heating houses; organic waste is processed into fertilizer.
In 2018, the global corporation McDonald’s undertook to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to restaurant and office operations by 36% by the end of 2030 (compared to 2015). And in 2021, it joined the UN Race to Zero campaign to reduce emissions to zero by 2050.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Ukraine was opened on May 24, 1997 in Kyiv. The chain now has 120 establishments across the country (including 15 temporarily closed due to safety concerns).
On September 20, 2022, McDonald’s began the gradual opening of restaurants in Ukraine.
