McDonald’s (China) Announces phasing out of plastic straw.

McDonald’s (China) has announced that it will further reduce plasticity in food packaging and phase out the use of plastic straws.

Starting from June 30, McDonald’s (China) will take the lead in nearly 1,000 restaurants located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, where consumers can drink solid-free cold drinks, such as cola, directly through the new cup lid. Pearl milk tea, McCool and other cold drinks containing solids, as well as McCoffee cold drinks, will still be served with straws.

The compay said the reduction measures would cover all restaurants in mainland China by 2020. At that time, the amount of plastic used is expected to be reduced by about 400 tons per year.

McDonald’s advocated reducing the use of straws as early as 2017, but it has since served straws, failing to achieve the goals. Now, McDonald’s has simply changed the beverage packaging, adding a suction nozzle to the bottle cap to replace the function of straw, aiming to solve the problem once for all.

McDonald’s, as an internationally famous fast food, has a good momentum of development in China, yet its ownership is constantly changing. In 2017, Citic, CITIC Capital and Carlyle Investment Group acquired McDonald’s China and announced completeing the transaction in August 2017. Then, in October 2017, McDonald’s China changed its name to ‘Golden Arch’ (China) Co., Ltd.

But in early 2020, Citic announced plans to transfer some of its McDonald’s shares, possibly due to a decline in McDonald’s net profits and lower-than-expected localization.