A large-scale ecological campaign #MyEkoDay from McDonald's was held in more than 50 cities of Russia. Over 2600 local residents and McDonald's volunteers have taken part in clean-ups and plogging races to clean up their hometowns. As part of the action, volunteers collected over 45 tons of garbage.
The most active participants in the #MyEcoDay campaign were McDonald's corporate volunteers, representatives of city administrations and volunteer organizations, as well as students and schoolchildren. It is noteworthy that more than 90% of the surveyed participants announced that they would change their approach to waste collection after the action and would be more careful with the nature of their hometown.
As part of the initiative, the company held city clean-ups and plogging races. Plogging is a new type of outdoor activity that combines distance running and garbage collection. McDonald's provided free lunches and coffee coupons to all event participants, and the winners of the competition received special prizes.
The action, initiated by McDonald's corporate volunteers, was held with the active support of the administrations of the participating cities and regional Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment. This initiative is one of the pillars of McDonald's global sustainability strategy, in which the company is reducing the number of non-recyclable packaging and striving to recycle as much waste as possible. The #MyEcoDay campaign is designed to draw public attention to the problem of environmental pollution and enables everyone to take a small but important step towards the cleanliness of their native land.
Realizing the importance of educational activities in the field of environmental protection, this year the company launched a corporate volunteer program and, in addition to environmental volunteer actions, held open eco-lessons for schoolchildren and other activities in the cities of presence, aimed at popularizing separate waste collection.
McDonald's in Russia and around the world has set ambitious goals for sustainable business development with care for people and the environment. In Russia, the company annually sends for processing at least 1500 tons of cardboard and 4 tons of frying oil, and more than 500% of the used oil is transferred for processing into biodiesel. Energy and resource saving programs have been introduced throughout the network: touchless hand-washing taps and refrigeration units that do not use hydrofluorocarbons have been installed.
In 2019, McDonald's was the first in the catering industry in Russia to launch a pilot project for the separate collection and further processing of waste, including paper cups with a thin layer of polyethylene coating inside, which were previously considered non-recyclable. The first results indicate the need for large-scale educational work among the population, promoting a culture of conscious consumption and rational nature management.
