Operations

McDonald's using trays made from trash in Latin America

Photo: iStock

January 26, 2021

McDonald's largest global and independent franchisee, Arcos Dorados, is replacing its plastic trays with what the company said was a more sustainable version of the food-toting essential. The franchisee's 2,200 stores are all located in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it has been engaged in a plastics-reduction program for nearly three years, a news release said.

Since 2018, Arcos Dorados has removed more than 1,300 tons of single-use plastic in its restaurants, with plans to minimize the use of virgin materials throughout logistics, supply chain and manufacturing.

The trays are part of a partnership between Arcos Dorados and Israeli-based, UBQ Materials, which patented a technology to turn household waste into a climate-positive, bio-based, thermoplastic. UBQ's technology receives landfill-destined waste that includes everything from food leftovers, paper, cardboard and mixed plastics, which it converts into a single-composite thermoplastic material compatible with industry machinery and manufacturing standards.

In its first phase, 7,200 serving trays made with UBQ debuted in 30 McDonald's restaurants in 20 Brazilian state capitals, replacing old plastic tray models. The initiative will gradually extend to all McDonald's restaurants throughout the country with 11,000 additional trays already in production.

Outside the presence of a UBQ logo, McDonald's patrons will see and feel no difference in the trays — an effort that has already diverted over 1,200 kilograms (2,645 pounds) of waste from being sent to landfills. UBQ said that by converting waste it prevents pollution and greenhouse gas emissions related to landfill decomposition, with each ton UBQ produces preventing 12 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent into the environment.

"We, as a company, are fully committed to the environment and are doing everything possible to reduce the impact of our operation by means of our Recipe for the Future platform," Gabriel Serber, director of Arcos Dorados Sustainable Development and Social Impact, said in the release. "The partnership with UBQ is yet another step towards introducing more and more innovative solutions to improve the world around us, and we are proud to take this first step, supporting a technology that will transform the way society recycles its organic waste."