McDonald's will green its famous Happy Meal.
The firm will gradually replace, from this week, the plastic toys offered with its children's menu with more durable toys.
The young customers of the sign will now find in their Happy Meal box coloring pages, cardboard figurines or even books, reveals Le Parisien.
Read also: McDonald's experiments with a vegetarian burger in Denmark and Sweden
Environmental efforts
If several American fast-food brands have given up toys in their menus, this was never considered for McDonald's, which has been offering these gadgets since 1979. “
I have made the decision to remove plastic wherever possible.
», Explains the CEO of McDonald's France, Nawfal Trabelsi.
With this decision, the firm especially anticipates the entry into force of the circular economy law, which provides for the disappearance of plastic toys from menus "
no later than January 1, 2022
".
For several years, however, McDonald's has been working to green its image and its practices.
In 2009, the famous “
M
”
logo
, historically yellow on a red background, was changed, for example: it became yellow on a green background.
More concrete changes were then announced, such as the disappearance of plastic straws in 2019 or the establishment of sorting bins in restaurants.
The packaging has also been redesigned to be sourced from “
clean
”
materials
, such as “
paper, cardboard, natural molded fiber or wood from sustainably managed forests
”.
A scrutinized sign
An approach in favor of recycling originally driven by law, which increasingly carefully regulates fast-food practices.
Since March 10, 2016, companies like McDonald's must follow the “5 flows” decree emanating from the law of August 17, 2015 relating to the energy transition for green growth.
French fast food restaurants must therefore have sorting bins, then collect waste (and bio-waste) for shipment to sorting and recycling centers.
To read also: McDonald's launches a line of vegetarian products under the name of "McPlant"
McDonald's environmental efforts are particularly scrutinized because of the leading position of the brand: with its some 1,500 restaurants located in France, it is the largest restaurateur in France.
It is therefore committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by 36% by 2030 and to use 100% recycled and renewable materials by 2025.