McDonald’s faces criticism over straw recycling
Wednesday, August 7, 2019 - 10:34:56
Fast food chain McDonald’s has been inundated with complaints as a result of its recent switch to paper straws. It was forced to admit that these more ‘sustainable’ alternatives to plastic straws were not actually being recycled, according to Wired.
It made the change last year, following a petition signed by over half a million people calling for single-use plastic straws to be removed from its UK restaurants. However, the first batch of paper straws did not have the physical integrity to stay in one piece when submerged in drinks, rendering them unfit for purpose. This forced McDonald’s to change the design and make the walls thicker in order to address the problem.
This week, however, it emerged that the thicker straws were not recyclable and were instead being sent to landfill. Since 1.8 million straws are consumed nationwide every day by the firm's clientele, this is clearly a significant issue.
At the moment it is unclear as to precisely why the newer paper straw design is unsuitable for recycling, although experts suggest that it is likely due to infrastructural issues rather than anything specifically related to the straw materials.
Across the UK, there are significant regional differences in recycling collections and processing options, putting both consumers and businesses in a difficult position in some cases.
Some industry observers claim that McDonalds' situation is symptomatic of businesses rushing to meet consumer demands for more sustainable materials in product packaging without fully considering the longer-term life-cycle implications.
It certainly seems as though McDonald’s was motivated to respond quickly to consumer pressure, given the ever-growing focus on environmental issues. This will no doubt be a salutory lesson for other retailers in ensuring that environmental intentions can be fully realised in a commercially realistic and sustainable fashion.
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