McDonald’s is making a major change to their Happy Meal toys. In a statement issued by the brand, the company is shifting its manufacturing process to reduce plastic use in the coming years. They stated a goal to have sustainable Happy Meal toys by the end of 2025. McDonald’s would be adjusting a lot of how they source their plastic and how those little objects get made in the immediate future. The numbers presented by the company are really staggering when put into context. A figure of 90% less virgin fossil fuel-based plastic would be a big reduction in how much of those bits end up in the ocean or other places. McDonald’s argues that this would be like 650,000 people giving up plastic each year. This would present the rest of the world jogging up to meet the corporation’s pace in the UK, Ireland, and France. In those places, they’ve already managed to cut 30% of that plastic out in those markets since 2018.
