McDonald's Receives Prime Minister's Commendation for Achievements in Eco-Friendly Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Korea McDonald's announced on the 7th that it received the Prime Minister's Commendation in recognition of its contributions to eco-friendly management on the occasion of the '12th Resource Circulation Day.'

McDonald's was selected as a company awarded the Prime Minister's Commendation for its various eco-friendly management activities, such as reducing the use of disposable products and plastics and switching to eco-friendly packaging materials. The Ministry of Environment designates and commemorates September 6th every year as Resource Circulation Day to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the global environment and recycling resources.

Since May last year, McDonald's has eliminated plastic lids from its ice cream dessert menu 'McFlurry' and upgraded to paper containers with lid functions, reducing plastic usage by about 14 tons over one year through the development of eco-friendly containers. Additionally, since 2003, McDonald's has led the use of reusable cups in stores, significantly reducing the use of about 1.17 billion disposable cups until last year. Customers who order with personal reusable cups at stores nationwide also receive discounts, benefiting more than 140,000 customers over the past year.

Moreover, McDonald's replaced more than 50 types of paper packaging materials in use with eco-friendly materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC certification is an eco-friendly certification given to paper produced sustainably, maintaining forest biodiversity. Furthermore, McDonald's has installed recycling bins in all stores to promote resource recycling, and restaurant staff separate waste by material again to facilitate recycling by specialized companies, fulfilling social responsibility for resource circulation. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, McDonald's is replacing the 'McDelivery' bikes used for delivery services with 100% eco-friendly electric bikes and has installed eco-friendly high-efficiency LED lighting in stores nationwide, saving 30 million kW of electricity annually.

CEO Anthony Martinez said, "We are pleased to be recognized for our eco-friendly efforts carried out to bring about positive changes to the local community and environment as a responsible global company," adding, "McDonald's will continue to strive to implement small but significant changes that provide better value to customers and the society we belong to."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.