McDonald’s Cups Become Books

Cups become books: in the current Happy Meal promotion by McDonald’s Germany, the books are made of 40 percent recycled cup material. With this recycling pilot project, the company wants to help promote closed-loop recycling.

McDonald’s Germany’s new Happy Meal promotion demonstrates that, in addition to basic packaging savings and the use of optimized packaging materials, recycling also plays an important role in the company’s comprehensive sustainability strategy. While 100 percent of McDonald’s paper-based packaging already comes from recycled or certified sources, the company has also worked with suppliers to develop its own recycling system to reprocess paper cups from beverages and soft ice cream into printing paper sheets. These are now also used for the current Happy Meal books. “This is a unique process in the book world that shows how recycling cycles can be closed and used material given a high-quality second life. This innovative approach is not only economical, but also sustainable,” says Markus Weiß, corporate spokesman for McDonald’s Germany.

Until February 16, 2022, McDonald’s youngest guests can look forward to a selection of seven different recycling books in their Happy Meal order. The content of all the books deals with topics related to the environment and nature. The books are made from 40 percent recycled cup material and 60 percent virgin paper fiber from certified forestry. The company is also increasingly paying attention to more sustainability in the other gifts in the Happy Meal. Since the end of 2020, for example, the toys have been packaged only in paper instead of plastic.