Environmental record

In April 2008, McDonald's announced that 11 of its Sheffield, England restaurants have been using a biomass trial that had cut its waste and carbon footprint by half in the area. In this trial, wastes from the restaurants were collected by Veolia Environmental Services, and were used to produce energy at a power plant. McDonald's plans to expand this project, although the lack of biomass power plants in the United States will prevent this plan from becoming a national standard anytime soon.^[66] In addition, in Europe, McDonald's has been recycling vegetable grease by converting it to fuel for its diesel trucks.^[67]

McDonald's has been using a corn-based bioplastic to produce containers for some of its products. The environmental benefits of this technology are controversial, with critics noting that biodegradation is slow, produces greenhouse gases, and that contamination of traditional plastic wastestreams with bioplastics can complicate recycling efforts.^[68]

In 1990 McDonald's worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to stop using "clam shell" shaped styrofoam food containers to house its food products.^[69] 20 years later McDonald's announced they would try replacing styrofoam coffee cups with an alternative material.^[70]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized McDonald's continuous effort to reduce solid waste by designing more efficient packaging and by promoting the use of recycled-content materials.^[71] McDonald's reports that it is committed towards environmental leadership by effectively managing electric energy, by conserving natural resources through recycling and reusing materials, and by addressing water management issues within the restaurant.^[72]

In an effort to reduce energy usage by 25% in its restaurants, McDonald's opened a prototype restaurant in Chicago in 2009, with the intention of using the model in its other restaurants throughout the world. Building on past efforts, specifically a restaurant it opened in Sweden in 2000 that was the first to intentionally incorporate green ideas, McDonald's designed the Chicago site to save energy by incorporating old and new ideas such as managing storm water, using skylights for more natural lighting and installing some partitions and tabletops made from recycled goods.^[73]

When McDonald's received criticism for its environmental policies in the 1970s, it began to make substantial progress towards source reductions efforts.^[74] For instance, an "average meal" in the 1970s—a Big Mac, fries, and a drink—required 46 grams of packaging; today, it requires only 25 grams, allowing a 46% reduction.^[75] In addition, McDonald's eliminated the need for intermediate containers for cola by having a delivery system that pumps syrup directly from the delivery truck into storage containers, saving two million pounds (910 tonnes) of packaging annually.^[76] Overall, weight reductions in packaging and products, as well as the increased usage of bulk packaging ultimately decreased packaging by twenty-four million pounds (11,000 tonnes) annually.^[77]

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