McDonald’s replaces Mcflurry spoon with paper-based cutlery in bid to reduce plastic and not everyone’s happy

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McDonald’s has removed plastic spoons from the Mcflurry as part of their latest sustainability drive

McDonald’s has announced its making a huge change to its McFlurry offering. The fast food chain is removing plastic spoons from its  iconic Mcflurry and replacing them with paper-based spoons in order to reduce plastic in its  supply chain.

The change comes less than a month after they axed the Chicken Legend from the menu. The new spoons  will be made out of fully recyclable FSC certified pressed-paper. The bold decision is expected  to eliminate up to 858 metric tonnes of plastic each year.

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McDonald’s said: “That’s right, we’re cancelling plastic cutlery and replacing it with a new sustainable, paper-based material in all of our restaurants in the UK & Ireland. We’re doing this to remove over 850 tonnes of plastic from our supply chain a year, as part of our Plan for Change.”

The chain has already implemented the alternative cutlery across restaurants in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  It will now start to roll-out the initiative in England and Wales.

Head of sustainable and ethical sourcing at McDonald’s, Nina Prichard said: “As a business, we’re committed to taking action on packaging and waste and increasing our use of sustainable materials. We’re pleased to announce another step forward in eliminating single-use plastics and it’s great to be switching our famous McFlurry spoons to this new paper-based material.”

The global chain started its  sustainability drive back in 2019 when it started to phase out plastic straw in the UK. Prior to the campaign McDonald’s used 1.8 million plastic straws a day across its 1,361 restaurants in Britain.

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However, the move was quickly met with criticism and customers complained their new paper straws were going soggy before the first sip. Many customers fear the same will be true with the new paper-based spoons.

The iconic plastic spoon, designed with a hollow end to be attached to a machine used to stir the goodness together, will be sorely missed by customers across the UK. Angry tweets have already started piling in as McDonald’s shared the news on social media.

One user replied: "I could sob, maccies have changed the mcflurry spoon to a PAPER SPOON. when will it end. sorry turtles but i don’t agree on this one.” Another said: “I fully support getting rid of plastic but I had a McFlurry with the new paper spoon last week and the spoon folded in half after a few mouthfuls so it’d be nice if it was stronger.”

“If they are anything like paper straws they will be c**p. Good job we eat with our fingers in your restaurants,” said a third. While one expressed support for the idea tweeting: “No difference really. Except its not as smooth as a plastic spoon. If you don’t like it. Bring your own spoon.”

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The American conglomerate is set on meeting its target of net zero emissions across its UK and Ireland business by 2040. While it’s also making steps to ensure all its packaging is recyclable, compostable and renewable by the same date.

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