McDonald's Makes Recycling Push in Latest Bid to Burnish Image

(Bloomberg) -- McDonald’s Corp. is embracing recycling and will start using more environmentally friendly packaging as consumers gravitate toward brands perceived to be good corporate citizens.

The world’s largest restaurant chain, which has moved to using cage-free eggs and antibiotic-free chicken, is setting the goal of recycling customer trash at all of its restaurants across the globe by 2025. Only an estimated 10 percent of the chain’s roughly 37,000 locations offer recycling today.

Packaging for items like bags, soda cups and boxes for burgers will also be more environmentally friendly by 2025, meaning the materials will be “recycled, renewable or certified” by third-parties organizations that track deforestation, according to Francesca DeBiase, the company’s chief supply chain and sustainability officer. McDonald’s is currently about halfway toward that goal, she said.

“Customers have told us that packaging waste is the top environmental issue we should address,” she said.

Under Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook, who took over in March 2015, McDonald’s has succeeded in luring diners back into its restaurants. He’s achieved this by offering all-day breakfast and fine-tuning value offerings. The chain has also embraced digital ordering and taken measures to improve the food’s taste.

McDonald’s shares surged 41 percent last year, marking a third straight annual gain. The stock rose 0.8 percent in the first two weeks of 2018, closing at $173.57 on Jan. 12.

To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Giammona in New York at cgiammona@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder, Lisa Wolfson

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