McDonalds Making Major Changes To Happy Meal Toys

McDonald’s is making a major change to their Happy Meal toys. In a statement issued by the brand, the company is shifting its manufacturing process to reduce plastic use in the coming years. They stated a goal to have sustainable Happy Meal toys by the end of 2025. McDonald’s would be adjusting a lot of how they source their plastic and how those little objects get made in the immediate future. The numbers presented by the company are really staggering when put into context. A figure of 90% less virgin fossil fuel-based plastic would be a big reduction in how much of those bits end up in the ocean or other places. McDonald’s argues that this would be like 650,000 people giving up plastic each year. This would present the rest of the world jogging up to meet the corporation’s pace in the UK, Ireland, and France. In those places, they’ve already managed to cut 30% of that plastic out in those markets since 2018. 

Jenny Mcculloch, the Chief Sustainability Officer for the brand had some words for the announcement. “Our next generation of customers care deeply about protecting the planet. We’re always exploring where we can drive greater impact.”

McDonald’s expanded on what their efforts include right here:

“Today we announced McDonald’s ambition to drastically reduce plastics and offer sustainable Happy Meal toys globally by the end of 2025. Transitioning to more renewable, recycled, and certified materials for our Happy Meal toys will result in an approximately 90% reduction in virgin fossil fuel-based plastic use against a 2018 baseline. For comparison, the average person uses more than 220 pounds of plastic annually, so this is equivalent to more than 650,000 individuals eliminating plastics from their lives each year.”

“Protecting the planet for our shared future demands that we look at all parts of our business, including the customer experience. I’m proud that nothing is off the table for our leadership, partners, and families. Together, we’re expanding our positive impact on the environment through the transformation of one of McDonald’s most beloved icons. Making changes like this, however, does not come without challenges. The thought on our minds was, how do we improve something that our customers already love around the world, without compromising any of the reasons they love it… and in the case of the Happy Meal, what they love is fun!”

What do you think of the changes to the Happy Meal toys? Let us know down in the comments!