From 2021, a selection of McDonald’s restaurants in the UK will trial a reusable hot drinks cup service in partnership with circular grocery packaging service Loop.
The trial will see customers order hot drinks in a reusable cup, which they can return to the restaurant for it to be cleaned and reused. The partnership with TerraCycle’s Loop will be expanded globally if it proves a success in the UK.
Customers will pay a deposit for the cups that is paid back to them on the containers’ return. The used cups will be sanitised, making them just as hygienic as single-use takeaway cups. “This groundbreaking partnership with McDonald’s enables Loop to greatly expand its reach by bringing convenient reusable packaging options to the food service industry,” said TerraCycle and Loop CEO Tom Szaky.
McDonald’s already sends the single-use cups discarded at its restaurants to specialist recycling centres, where the plastic lining is removed so the cups can be recycled, and is running reuse and recycling initiatives in Germany and the US. If such actions were adopted industry-wide, a significant amount of waste would be eliminated from the food industry.
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From 2021, a selection of McDonald’s restaurants in the UK will trial a reusable hot drinks cup service in partnership with circular grocery packaging service Loop.
The trial will see customers order hot drinks in a reusable cup, which they can return to the restaurant for it to be cleaned and reused. The partnership with TerraCycle’s Loop will be expanded globally if it proves a success in the UK.
Customers will pay a deposit for the cups that is paid back to them on the containers’ return. The used cups will be sanitised, making them just as hygienic as single-use takeaway cups. “This groundbreaking partnership with McDonald’s enables Loop to greatly expand its reach by bringing convenient reusable packaging options to the food service industry,” said TerraCycle and Loop CEO Tom Szaky.
McDonald’s already sends the single-use cups discarded at its restaurants to specialist recycling centres, where the plastic lining is removed so the cups can be recycled, and is running reuse and recycling initiatives in Germany and the US. If such actions were adopted industry-wide, a significant amount of waste would be eliminated from the food industry.