McDonald's and Burger King cut back on plastic toys in bid to reduce waste

Burger King and McDonald’s have both announced they will be cutting back on plastic toys to help reduce waste.

The fast food giants could save 1,325 tonnes per year between them thanks to new green initiatives in the UK.

Burger King will remove all plastic toys from their meals, while McDonald’s customer will ge a choice to swap out their playthings for fruit or a book.

The move comes following a petition by two primary school girls, sisters Ella and Caitlin McEwan, which calls on companies to “think of the environment and stop giving plastic toys with their kids meals”.

The Change.org petition now has more than half a million signatories and Burger King has admitted the school girls’ action “spurred them on”.

McDonald’s changes will start from next month, while plastic Burger King toys will disappear on Thursday.

Burger King chief executive Alasdair Murdoch said: "We're making a start. This is a step in the right direction.

"If it makes other competitors move their practices forward, that can only be a good thing."

As well as offering alternatives to plastic toys, McDonald’s has instigated other changes to reduce their impact on the environment.

This includes the roll-out of paper straws in restaurants, the removal of McFlurry plastic lids and the removal of single-use plastic from salads.

All these measures combined could save around 1,005 tonnes of waste, according to the firm.

McDonald's UK and Ireland chief executive Paul Pomroy said: "We recognise that some people may not want a plastic Happy Meal toy, but we also know that the gifts provide fun for many families and children.

"That's why we'll be running these trials, in order to give our customers a choice; they also can choose not to have a toy or gift at all.

"It's important we understand what our customers want and we'll learn a lot from whether they choose a fruit bag or a book over a toy.

"At the same time, we will be evolving what the toy or gift is - new authors as part of Happy Readers, paper-based toys and board games.

"We know that our Happy Meal is much loved by our customers so any changes need to be carefully considered."

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Burger King is installing amnesty bins in every one of its restaurants across the UK, where people can drop off any free plastic meal toys, including those given away with confectionery or within children's magazines.

The plastic will be transformed into new play areas and restaurant items, including interactive trays.

Removing the toys will save 320 tonnes of waste according to estimates.

Fernando Machado, global chief marketing officer at Burger King, said: "We are a global brand, and the UK market will be leading the way in making this first step towards change, which is part of our wider commitment on reducing plastics.

"Work is currently under way across all of our markets to look at how we can completely move away from non-biodegradable plastic toys by 2025."

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