Burger King ditches plastic free toys

Burger King has announced it will no longer give away plastic toys with children's meals and is also encouraging customers to bring in old promotional plastic toys, which it plans to melt to make other items.

The move comes after a petition, organised by two Hampshire children, called for companies to "think of the environment and stop giving plastic toys with their kids meals" received more than half a million signatories.

The two children, aged seven and nine,  petitioned the fast food giant and its rival McDonald's to stop giving away free plastic toys. McDonald's said its customers would be able to choose between a toy and fruit.

As reported by BBC News, the girls wrote: "Children only play with the plastic toys they give us for a few minutes before they get thrown away and harm animals and pollute the sea."

Instead, they suggested any giveaways could be made from sustainable materials.

The fast-food restaurant chain will provide bins in its restaurants to collect old toys and the move aims to save 320 tonnes of plastic a year.

Pentatonic, which makes consumer goods from recycled materials, is working with Burger King to recycle collected plastic toys into restaurant items such as trays and play areas.

Pentatonic's chief executive Johann Boedecker told the BBC: "If we were to use recycled polypropylene to make a tray, instead of new plastic, total energy consumption would be reduced by approximately 88% and carbon emissions would be cut by approximately 70%.”