McDonald’s to remove plastic toys from Happy Meals by 2021

McDonald’s has announced it is set to replace its Happy Meal toys with non-plastic versions from next year in a bid to reduce its environmental impact.

From 2021 Happy Meals will come with a soft toy, a book, or a paper-based toy.

According to Metro, the fast food chain hopes the effort will save more than 3,000 metric tonnes of plastic at its UK business from 2021, which would be its biggest single reduction to date.

It will start trialling the new toys from May, when parents and children will be offered the opportunity to swap their plastic toys for a book or paper toy when they buy a meal.

Customers will also have the option to bring in unwanted plastic toys in its 1,350 sites across the UK. McDonald’s will then melt the plastic down and make it into toys for its charity in the UK and Ireland.

Gareth Helm, the company’s chief marketing officer in the UK told Metro, said: “We care passionately about the environment and are committed to reducing plastic across our business including within our Happy Meal.”