McDonald’s still rejects reusable mugs — though promises change following patron outrage

McDonald’s Canada skeleton to change a ubiquitous process of rejecting reusable mugs, a practice that has hurt business for years. 

On Tuesday, a grill chain told CBC News that it hopes to have a new national process in place by a finish of February, that will allow business to be served coffee or tea in their personal mug instead of a disposable cup. 

“We listen to a guests, and we know this is an area of flourishing significance to Canadians,” pronounced orator Ryma Boussoufa in an email. 

The matter comes after CBC News initial reached out to McDonald’s in October, inquiring about patron annoy over a stream policy. 

Brenya Green pronounced she was stunned when she recently systematic a coffee during McDonald’s and a grill chain told her that drinks contingency be served in disposable cups for spotless reasons. 

“I only suspicion it was ridiculous,” pronounced Green, who lives in Toronto. “I’ve been to so many coffee shops and I’ve never encountered that before.”

Hi Michael. We routinely don’t concede a use of reusable mugs. While some restaurants might offer guest with their possess cups, food reserve stays a tip priority for us to equivocate cross-contamination, some-more frequently celebrated when regulating personal tumblers. We’ll share your feedback.

mdash;@McDonaldsCanada

McDonald’s Canada told CBC News that currently, individual locations confirm if they will accept personal mugs. However, on Twitter, a sequence has supposing a some-more fulsome explanation, telling numerous raging customers that, while some locations might accept reusable mugs, it “normally” rejects them “to equivocate cross-contamination.”

As concerns over a sourroundings grow, McDonald’s — along with other quick food restaurants — faces vigour to quell a takeout waste.

Disposable paper coffee cups are a large concern, since they’re lined with plastic, that prevents leakage but makes them formidable to recycle. As a result, many metropolitan recycling depots — including Toronto’s — reject them, so they breeze adult in landfills. 

Research organisation Euromonitor estimates Canadians bought 2.49 billion litres of brewed coffee from food use outlets in 2019, adequate to fill almost six billion medium-sized coffee cups.

a href=”https://twitter.com/McDonaldsCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”@McDonaldsCanada/a Your staff couldn’t fill a reusable coffee mop for “hygiene” reasons. How come any other coffee emporium in Toronto does? we asked for a reinstate quite on principle. a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/sustainability?src=hashamp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”#sustainability/a

mdash;@valerieaguiar

Took a reusable coffee mugs in to a href=”https://twitter.com/McDonaldsCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”@McDonaldsCanada/a today, asked for them to be used for a coffee and were handed dual coffees in their disposable cups with cosmetic lids 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/McDsfail?src=hashamp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”#McDsfail/a a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/theenvironmentmatters?src=hashamp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”#theenvironmentmatters/a a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/reduce?src=hashamp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”#reduce/a

mdash;@hali_ns

‘Just not acceptable’

Many coffee shops in Canada have supposed reusable mugs for years, call business to doubt McDonald’s stream policy. 

“It’s only not acceptable,” pronounced Judith Banville of Craighurst, Ont., who blasted McDonald’s on Facebook in Sep after a grill refused to serve her tea in her personal mug. “It does not make clarity to continue to forestall people from regulating a reusable cup.”

Brenya Green works as a sales deputy for Adventure Canada, that offers Arctic cruises, and pronounced she became ardent about a sourroundings after saying firsthand how global warming is timorous glaciers. 

“We’re saying it now and it’s scary.”

To display a McDonald’s process on reusable mugs, Green returned to a grill with a colleague, Victoria Polsoni, who filmed Green again unwell to have a coffee served in her personal mug. Since it was posted on Facebook in August, a video has garnered 10,000 views.

“I only had to tell this story,” pronounced Polsoni, who also lives in Toronto. “It triggered a glow inside me.”

Coffee competitors Tim Hortons and Starbucks pronounced that they have supposed customers’ reusable mugs for decades, and even provide a 10 cent bonus to business who use them.

However, several Tim Hortons business complained to CBC News that they have witnessed employees during certain locations flow the coffee into a disposable crater before stuffing a customer’s reusable mug.

Tim Hortons told CBC that all locations should flow customers’ drinks directly into their reusable mugs — as prolonged as they’re clean.

Hi, Brenda. Our group members are lerned to ready all prohibited beverages directly into transport mugs. If this process wasn’t followed, greatfully DM us a plcae address, and we’ll follow adult with them directly. Thanks for reaching out about this. a href=”https://t.co/dkbZ9N86ic”https://t.co/dkbZ9N86ic/a

mdash;@TimHortons

Old habits tough to break

Even nonetheless Tim Hortons and Starbucks accept reusable cups, they still face a challenge, as many of their business opt for disposable ones. 

According to a 2019 Greenpeace Canada brand rabble audit, Tim Hortons, Starbucks and McDonald’s done a list of a tip 5 companies behind branded cosmetic rubbish collected in 9 beach and immature space cleanups opposite a country.

Coffee cups and lids, collectively, were among a tip 5 single-use cosmetic equipment many ordinarily found. Other tip offenders enclosed straws, stir sticks and food wrappers.

Tim Hortons, Starbucks and McDonald’s any told CBC News they’re operative on greener solutions, such as adopting widely recyclable takeout materials.

Emily Alfred, a comparison supporter with a Toronto Environmental Alliance, pronounced that when it comes to coffee cups, the concentration should be on reusables, since recyclable items still emanate a bigger environmental footprint. 

“It’s still about regulating materials once and only recycling them,” pronounced Alfred. “We need to pierce toward a round economy, where we preserve resources.”

Difficult challenges

Tim Hortons agrees and pronounced it’s on a goal to convince some-more business to move personal mugs. The sequence skeleton to widely foster reusable cups this year, and recently started offered ones labelled as low as $1.99 each.

“If anyone’s going to be means to change guest poise in terms of going with reusable cups and holding a some-more tolerable angle, it’s going to be us,” said Mike Hancock, arch handling officer of Tim Hortons, in an interview.

However, a sequence faces a formidable challenge. In 2013, Starbucks introduced a low-cost reusable cup, labelled during $2 in Canada. But so far, it hasn’t led to a seismic shift in patron behaviour. 

Alfred said to move about effective change, governments need to deliver regulations.

“We kind of need any turn of supervision to be relocating on this as fast as possible.”

Some municipalities already have skeleton in motion. On Jan. 1, Vancouver criminialized froth crater and takeout containers, and will deliver a 25-cent assign for disposable paper cups subsequent year. Toronto is also exploring ways to revoke single-use takeout materials. 

The sovereign supervision has pledged to anathema certain single-use plastics as early as subsequent year. No word nonetheless if disposable coffee cups will make a list. 

Article source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mcdonald-s-reusable-mug-recycle-waste-tim-hortons-starbucks-1.5413000?cmp=rss