We believe that the future of materials is circular and that we need to close the loop on waste. Our goal is to make sure that, by 2027, McDonald’s restaurant waste is given a second life so that nothing is truly wasted – instead it is recycled, reused or composted.

When it comes to our packaging we consider what it’s made of and what happens to it after it has protected our food. Our aim is that none of the materials we use in our packaging will be from finite resources. Our goal is for all our primary customer packaging to be recyclable or compostable by 2024. 

We’re helping to bring packaging back to life again in fun and useful ways, such as sending paper cups to be recycled into paper bags and perfume boxes. We minimise food waste through our smart ordering and production systems, and where we do have extra food, we are donating it to our partner FareShare where possible, for people in need.

Happy Meal toys have been providing children with hours of play time over the past 39 years in the UK, and we want to ensure the toys and books that we offer are fun, engaging and robust.

In 2021 we set ourselves the global challenge to drastically reduce the use of virgin fossil fuel-based plastics and transition to more sustainable materials in our Happy Meal toys by the end of 2025. 

For some time, in the UK, we have continued to explore different materials, games and soft toys, which recently included paper fibre toys. While the move to paper has been successful and given us valuable insights into its potential, it has also shown us its limitations, so it’s important that we choose the right material for the right toy. In some cases, that will still mean paper, but for others, we will need to incorporate different durable materials.

That’s why we are testing the Mass Balance approach for some of our Happy Meal® toys to help ensure they’re robust enough to last for hours of playtime.

How it works

Sourcing

Our suppliers mix fossil-fuel materials, and renewable or recycled raw materials, like used cooking oil, to create the plastic material businesses like us need. We then use this to make some of the Happy Meal® toys you know and love. 

Producing

Our suppliers provide us with certificates to confirm the amount of renewable materials we’ve purchased when it comes to making some of our toys.  

Testing 

Our toys are rigorously tested, to ensure quality and safety remain at the heart of everything we do, while continuously improving our manufacturing process.  

The Mass Balance approach will reduce the use of fossil-based sources that are otherwise needed to make some of the Happy Meal® toys for our global business.

Recycling used toys

In the UK, we’re teaming up with Wastebuster and joining the Recycle to Read programme to encourage families to rehome unwanted toys or recycle small hard plastic toys, once they’ve finished playing with them. Recycle to Read is a collective initiative that is building a new system for recycling plastic toys, while donating books to schools to support children’s literacy. Toy collections will be launching soon.

This move is the latest in an ongoing journey, and we are committed to continuing our research and development to find the best possible materials that produce great toys and also help meet our global sustainability goals.