The fast-food business model is based on cheap food served efficiently. An essential part of that efficiency is single-use packaging that is discarded by the customer in a way that keeps costs low and also helps maintain hygiene. The associated waste is part of the model, but is also a problem if we care about resource utilization, from the point of view of sustainability. French politicians agree, and have decided to try and do something about it, as reported in the article in the url below, and experienced in a Paris branch of McDonald's:
"For those dining in, french fries are served in durable red containers, soda is dispensed into clear washable glasses and chicken nuggets come in hard plastic white bowls. When customers are finished eating, they are asked to drop the containers into a bin to be washed, dried and reused. The assortment of 21 variously sized reusable cups, bowls and fry sleeves are a world-first for McDonald's, which since its inception has used disposable packaging to keep food moving quickly and utility and labor costs low. The new containers have been introduced to comply with a French law aimed at reducing waste that has compelled the burger giant and other fast-food restaurants to serve dine-in orders in reusable containers."
Perhaps not surprisingly, McDonald's is unimpressed:
"'We don't want France to be the template because we strongly believe that this doesn't work,' said Serge Thines, the company's head of international government relations, who argues that reusable packaging is inconvenient for consumers and worse for the environment than disposables. 'It's very problematic,' he added."
I think what Serge means is that the law is imposing an additional cost that the company would rather not have to deal with. If it was just France, it is perhaps manageable. The trouble is that the French law is part of a wider awakening on sustainability issues, and is influential throughout the EU:
"McDonald's is up against proposed laws mandating reusables or banning single-use plastic packaging in a string of other countries including Portugal, Sweden and Poland. It already has had to comply with laws in Germany and the Netherlands by offering reusable cups to consumers who request them and pay a deposit."
And, even in the U.S.:
"… a shareholder advocacy group has seized on McDonald's experience in France to press the company to consider the merits of rolling out reusables stateside."
The key, of course, is how other stakeholders feel about the change. For something like this to stick, it needs to have broad stakeholder support. This is particularly the case as it involves the participation of both employees and customers:
"Seven staff members at the McDonald's restaurant have done three days of training on how to use the new equipment and handle the crockery. Takeaways include the importance of washing hands more frequently and not cutting through the kitchen holding dirty dishes. … Rather than sweeping leftovers and packaging into the same trash can, customers dining in are asked to empty liquids into one hole and scrape food into another. There is a third hole for the exempt disposable packaging and a fourth for the new reusable containers."
At least there seems to be some buy-in, although this suggests this might not be the easy win that legislators perhaps expect:
"McDonald's says its return rate for reusable containers in France is over 92% and the containers are used on average 29 times before being damaged, thrown away or taken by customers."
Take care
David
David Chandler
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French Packaging Law Vexes McDonald's
By Saabira Chaudhuri
December 11, 2023
The Wall Street Journal
Late Edition – Final
B3
