Bangkok--5 Mar--McThai
McThai, the leading quick service restaurant under brand McDonald Thailand is gearing towards company vision on sustainability launching environmental friendly projects including 'Say No to Straw’ encouraging customers to not use plastic straws in beverages; 'Recycle Bin’ persuading customer to separate plastic waste from others in 4 branches; 'Paper Bag’ reinforcing its original idea using paper packaging made from fiber-base materials and certified by Forest Stewardship Council(TM) while reducing plastic packaging; and 'Green Design Restaurant’ introducing the first green McDonald’s restaurant in Thailand.
“McThai aims to sustainably growingits business with responsibility for the environment. This is our clear policyunder 'The Journey for GOOD’ framework in 'Good Planet’ pillar launched througha variety projects to help Thais preserve environment for the future,” said byThunyachate Ekvetchavit, Managing Director of McThai Co., Ltd.
Aiming to encourage customers to not usingplastic straws in beverages, 'Say No to Straw’ campaign will help reducing plasticwaste and its impact towards the environment. According to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources*, in 2017 there was over 11.47 million tonnes of waste in coastal areas in 23provinces of which 340,000 tonnes or 10-15% was plastic waste found in theocean. Plastic straw was one of the top wastes found in the sea and coast ofThailand. Plastic straw is a single-use plastic as it is a diminutive item usedbriefly before being thrown away but it takes more than 200 years to decompose.This not only pollutes the ocean but threatens marine animals as they frequentlymistook for food.
McDonald’s alsointroduces the 'Recycle bin’ project to persuade customers to separate plasticwaste by designing a new bin in compartments for waste separation includingwater & ice, plastic and garbage. This allows customer pour the water &ice before putting the plastic cups into the recycle bin. This pilot project isnow available in four branches such as McDonald’s Amarin Plaza, Esso Rama 4, EssoBangna km. 6.5 and Glas Haus.
In addition, McDonald’shas adopted the new guest packaging made from fiber-base materials certified byForest Stewardship Council(TM), a non-profit organization in forest managementthrough policy agreed by member from all related sectors including environment,community, society and economy with transparency
throughout thesupply chain. The new guest packaging includes box, food container, burger wrappaper, paper cup and bag.
“McDonald’s hasbeen using paper bag for over 35 years since the company operated in Thailand. In2014, we have reduced the use of plastic bag and we have adopted the 3R conceptof Reduce Reuse Recycle in 2015 using melanin plate, spoon, fork and knife thatcan be reused in the restaurants nationwide. In 2016, we stop using polystyrenefoam packaging while we use paper packaging instead,” added Thunyachate
Withcommitment to sustainability, the company goal is set using 100% of guestpackaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025.
“We are designing the first McDonald’srestaurant in Thailand under green concept & design using all environmentalfriendly materials that save the energy. This project is to launch in June2020,” he said.
*Source: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources https://www.dmcr.go.th/detailAll/30612/nws/141