Inside look at first sustainable McDonald‘s goes viral on TikTok
A new McDonald’s restaurant in Australia has a “cool” feature that has people excited – with some asking “why can’t all Macca’s have this?”
Another day, another Macca’s store opening – except this one has gone viral on TikTok for very unusual reasons.
The fast food chain is set to officially open its 1000th Australian store in the Melbourne suburb of Melton South, with the new branch coming with a range of new features to mark the milestone.
In a TikTok video by @nrrb.b that has been viewed 230,000 times in just over 24 hours, the new Macca’s has gone green – literally, with a grass wall near the store entrance.
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The playground has been made from recycled plastic and as well as a recycling and rubbish station there is a special bin where customers can recycle old Macca’s toys.
The restaurant also comes with rain water tanks and has electric car charging stations in its carpark.
The video has gotten hundreds of comments, with many people impressed by the Macca’s toy recycling bin.
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“How much do we need one of the those old toy recycling things. Half the boy’s toys would be gone,” one person wrote, while another person added: “What a cool idea”
“That’s great but why can’t all Macca’s have this,” another viewer wrote.
But not everyone was impressed by the new Macca’s, saying it was the “bare minimum” a large company could be doing for the environment.
“I’ve found a McDonald’s straw in about every national park I’ve visited,” another person commented.
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“They’ve got some work to do past water tanks.”
Diana Grosmann, National Director of Development, McDonald’s Australia, said in a statement that the new restaurant will “play a crucial role” in Macca’s “sustainability solutions”.
“The opening of our 1000th restaurant is a significant achievement for Macca’s and we are proud to be continuing to find new and innovative ways to help make a positive difference to the communities we operate in,” she said.
The restaurant will run on 100 per cent renewable energy thanks to its solar panels and will have paper straws, wooden cutlery and paper sundae cups instead of plastic.
McDonald’s Australia is in the process of phasing out all plastic cutlery and straws nationwide, a move that will result in 860 tonnes of less plastic.
“For more than a decade, Macca’s has been actively scoping and introducing initiatives that reduce plastic used within its packaging requirements,” a spokesperson told news.com.au.
“These changes alone removed nearly 250 tonnes of plastic from McDonald’s Australia restaurants, and by weight, now 85 per cent of Macca’s packaging is fibre-based.”
McDonald’s also purchases more than $1 billion worth of Australian produce and product annually.
“As a major purchaser of beef, McDonald’s recognises the need to support industry on their sustainability efforts and we work closely with both relevant industry stakeholders and our suppliers, to ensure they operate responsibly and in the best interests of the communities they operate in,” the spokesperson said.