McDonald’s (Photo Stock Catalog /flickr)
Fast food chains in France are preparing for one of the biggest changes to their restaurants in decades, as the government bans disposable plates, cups and tableware for anyone eating or drinking on the premises.
Chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks and Subway are facing what environmentalists have called a “January 1 revolution”, as pioneering new measures come into force in France to combat waste. A large part of the fast food industry uses an economic model built on disposable boxes, cups and packaging that customers transfer from the tray to the trash immediately after eating.
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About 30,000 fast food outlets in France serve 6 billion meals a year, which produces about 180,000 tons of waste. Environmental groups said 55% of that was created by people eating inside.
“We are very happy that it has finally come into force,” said Alice Alpessi, head of legal affairs at the NGO Zero Waste France, which pushed for the move in a law published in 2020 but gave companies until 2023 to prepare. “Fast food is a sector that produces a lot of waste. Although single-use plastic has already been banned, it has been replaced by large quantities of throw-away products such as cardboard, wood, bamboo, which we see as an unacceptable waste of resources.”
The law only applies to tableware used by customers sitting in restaurants. Those who order takeaway, for example from McDonald’s, will continue to receive disposable packaging. But environmental groups hope that in the future it will also be possible to change single-use packaging, for example when customers leave a deposit for reusable packaging and return it.
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