The fast food giant, McDonald’s, has decided to dump their unique cutlery item after nearly 30 years to help save the environment.
The fast food chain has expressed its desire for more sustainable options and the McFlurry spoon is no exception. This famous utensil has a hollow design that has perplexed some consumers, while its square handle ensures that every bite contains a generous portion of delicious toppings.
McDonald’s Latest Measures Towards Sustainability
In 2023, McDonald‘s chose to discontinue its self-serve soda fountains, take away McCafe Bakery items from the menu, and enhance its signature menu items.
McDonald’s announced that it will be replacing the iconic, cube-like McFlurry spoon with a more eco-friendly, smaller black spoon that requires less plastic. The McFlurry is a delicious mix of soft-serve ice cream and various toppings, and the spoon can also be used for stirring and folding the dessert.
After introducing the spoon to the public almost three decades ago, it has since become a widely recognized tool across the globe.
The world-famous fast food chain declared its new eco-friendly policy in a press release.
‘True McFlurry fans know the spoon doubles as a spindle, which the restaurant crew uses to mix the perfect amount of sweet toppings into our creamy soft serve. And starting this month, it’s about to get a sustainable glow-up in the US.’
They added that the iconic cutlery will be replaced by ‘smaller black spoons that use less plastic.’ The press release also assured the consumers that this will help them reduce waste while offering the same-old tasty McFlurry.
“This small change will help reduce single-use plastic waste in restaurants – while giving customers the same delicious McFlurry they know and love. That’s a win-win in our book.”
In their announcement, McDonald‘s stated that a reusable spindle will be used to mix McFlurries, which will be replaced and sanitized after each one is made. This is part of the company’s mission to decrease the amount of waste from its packaging and play items.
The restaurant has replaced plastic straws with ones made of paper, added McFlurry cups without plastic lids, and provided salad boxes and cutlery fashioned from renewable sources.
McDonald’s has gone plastic-free in Europe, replacing its plastic forks, knives, and spoons with smaller paper alternatives. Nevertheless, the newly-introduced spoons are still made of plastic, albeit in a reduced quantity.
A survey conducted in 2021 indicated that McDonald’s accumulated more than 300 million pounds of plastic in 2018. This could have been the motivation behind the corporation’s major environmental initiative to reduce the production of plastic waste.
Surfers Against Sewage counted on the aid of 4,240 people who tidied up 500 different places, such as the beach, river, forest, and roads.
During the one-year period between 6 June 2022 and 5 June 2023, the volunteers found and picked up 30,745 items. After examining the items, it was determined that 327 companies were responsible for 36 percent of the trash.
In July, research revealed that the Coca-Cola company was responsible for the highest amount of plastic waste in the UK, with the restaurant coming in at a close second.
The Coca-Cola Company, which possesses several widely recognized brands such as Monster, Coca-Cola, and Costa, was the top offender in terms of pollution, with 1,820 items recovered.
McDonald’s came in second with 1,220 pieces, and PepsiCo, whose labels include 7Up, Pepsi, and Walkers, had 976 items in total.
