McDonald’s has removed the plastic lid from its McFlurry packaging and has introduced carton board cups for this ice-cream range.

This is the second action taken by McDonald’s in Malta this year to support customers reduce their use of plastic. Last January, McDonald’s introduced the straws on request action in all its nine restaurants. Regular drinks are no longer served with a straw, unless customers ask for one. 

“Customers reacted positively to the straws on request action and we are proud to report that so far, we have managed to reduce the usage of straws in all our restaurants by 35 per cent,” Paul Dragan, managing director of Premier Restaurants Malta, the operator of Malta’s McDonald’s restaurants, said.

“At McDonald’s we remain committed to identifying sustainable alternatives to plastic use. This is part of the company’s global commitment to continually improve the sustainability of all packaging to achieve its global goals of sourcing 100 per cent of guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025 and to recycle guest packaging in 100 per cent of McDonald’s restaurants globally,” Mr Dragan added.

By 2017, 50 per cent of McDonald’s guest packaging was already sourced from renewable, recycled or certified sources and McDonald’s made significant progress on fibre-based packaging. Additionally, behind the counter, in kitchens and at serving points, McDonald’s crews are recycling used cooking oil and cardboard in up to 85 to 90 per cent of McDonald’s restaurants.