Source 100% of primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials by the end of 2025
Latest reported: 90.93% of the way to goal (end of 2024)
From the source“As of the end of 2024, we were 90.93% of the way toward our goal”
Foodservice
McDonald's packaging profile
McDonald's is a global quick-service restaurant chain. Its guest packaging is mostly fiber-based, such as bags, cups, cartons and fry boxes, plus some plastic cups and lids.
Company profile
At a glance
- Legal name
- McDonald's Corporation1
- Incorporated
- Delaware, USA1
- Headquarters
- 110 North Carpenter Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA1
- Listing
- New York Stock Exchange: MCD1
- Financial year end
- 31 December1
- Total revenues
- USD 26,885 million (2025); USD 25,920 million (2024)1
- Employees
- 150,000 (31 Dec 2025)1
- Markets
- More than 100 countries1
- Website
- corporate.mcdonalds.com5
- Note
- The 10-K says the Company and its franchisees buy food, packaging, equipment and other goods from numerous independent suppliers; no packaging suppliers are named.1
- End uses
- Foodservice
Markets
Geographic footprint
- International Operated Markets were the largest segment in 2025 (USD 13,410 million of franchised and company-operated revenues), ahead of the U.S. (USD 10,487 million); developmental licensed markets, mainly China and Japan, are mostly run by licensees.1
- Year-end 2025 restaurants: U.S. 13,706; Mainland China 7,740; Japan 3,025; France 1,630; Canada 1,520; UK 1,507; Germany 1,382; Brazil 1,230; Australia 1,092; Philippines 851; India 7573
As the company reports it
Packaging profile
Formats and materials the company itself reports using, in its own reporting. No pack specifications, volumes or supplier names beyond what it has published.
| Format | Material | What the company reports |
|---|---|---|
| Primary guest packaging | Paper/board, moulded fibre | Most primary guest packaging is fibre-based: 82% globally and 96% in Europe (year-end 2024)7 |
| Primary guest packaging | Mixed | 90.93% of primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials at end of 2024 (95.2% in Europe); 98.99% of fibre-based guest packaging from recycled or certified sources4 |
| Bags, cartons, carriers | Paper/board | Paper bags with recycled material; recycled material in some cartons, napkins, cup carriers, cup sleeves and fry boxes; renewable-fibre salad boxes and cutlery6 |
| Cups, lids, dessert packaging | rPET or recycled plastic; moulded fibre | Plastic cups from 100% recycled material (UK and Ireland); fibre McFlurry cups with flaps replacing plastic lids (North America); 100% recycled sundae cups and lids (Korea); moulded fibre sundae packaging (six European markets)4 |
| Fibre packaging | Paper/board | Certified fibre (FSC, PEFC or SFI) must be at least 70% of a finished product's content; wood fibre from Argentina, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam must be FSC-certified or FSC-controlled6 |
| Reusable cups and dishes | PP | Reusable cups for dine-in drinks and McFlurry in the Netherlands; reusable cups and lids with a EUR 2 deposit in Germany; mandatory dine-in reusables in France. Reusable packaging is polypropylene with no recycled content4 |
| Guest packaging | Paper/board (PFAS-free) | 99.82% of guest packaging items free of intentionally added fluorinated compounds at end of 20244 |
| Toys and toy packaging | Fibre, recycled and bio-based plastic | Happy Meal toys: virgin fossil fuel-based plastic cut 80.26% vs 2018 (end of 2024); materials include bagasse moulded fibre, recycled plastic fabric, biomass-based plastics and mass-balance polypropylene4 |
Reporting scope: Goals cover primary guest packaging (and Happy Meal toys); packaging is bought by the Company and its franchisees from independent suppliers.4
Packaging suppliers
No packaging manufacturer is named in the sources reviewed. Named partners are recyclers and consultancies (Miklan-Ryza in Poland, PwC UK, Ramboll), listed under industry partners.
Industry and recycling partners named by the company6
The register
Packaging targets and progress
Targets and progress are taken from each company's own published reports, with a quote and a link on its page. Status shows met or missed only where the company has reported the result. No contacts, purchase volumes, supplier relationships or pack specifications are listed.
Drastically reduce virgin fossil fuel-based plastic in Happy Meal toys by the end of 2025 (vs 2018)
Latest reported: 80.26% reduction (end of 2024)
From the source“As of the end of 2024, we reduced virgin fossil fuel-based plastic for Happy Meal toys by 80.26%”
Primary fiber-based guest packaging from recycled or certified sources
Latest reported: 98.99% (2024)
From the source“Percentage of primary fiber-based guest packaging sourced from recycled or certified sources”
Offer guests recycling or composting and help create demand for recycled materials by end of 2025 (markets with advanced infrastructure)
Latest reported: About 89.6% of restaurants in markets with advanced infrastructure (2024)
From the source“approximately 89.6% of restaurants in markets with advanced infrastructure”
Reduce Scope 3 energy and industrial emissions 50.4% by end of 2030 vs 2018 (goal covers facility, logistics and plastic packaging emissions)
Latest reported: 3% reduction vs 2018
From the source“the facility, logistics and plastic packaging emissions in our supply chain”
Commitments
Commitments and baselines
Every packaging and supply-chain commitment the company has published, with its baseline and the latest progress it reports. Status says met or missed only where the company states the result.
| Commitment | By | Baseline | Latest reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 packaging goalsSource 100% of primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials by end of 20254 | 2025 | – | 90.93% (end of 2024); fibre-based packaging 98.99% recycled or certified | In progress |
| 2025 packaging goalsAll primary guest packaging free from intentionally added fluorinated compounds by end of 20254 | 2025 | – | 99.82% of items (end of 2024) | In progress |
| 2025 packaging goalsOffer guest recycling and help create demand for recycled materials by end of 20254 | 2025 | – | About 89.6% of restaurants in markets with advanced infrastructure offer guest recycling or composting (2024) | In progress |
| 2025 packaging goalsDrastically reduce plastics in Happy Meal toys (about 90% cut in virgin fossil fuel-based plastic vs 2018)4 | 2025 | 2018 | 80.26% reduction (end of 2024) | In progress |
| DeforestationEliminate deforestation from global supply chains by end of 2030 (fibre for primary guest packaging included)5 | 2030 | – | Fibre 98.99% (2024) | In progress |
| 2050 Net Zero / 2030 science-based targetsReduce Scope 3 energy and industrial emissions by 50.4% by end of 2030 vs 2018; the Scope 3 goal covers facility, logistics and plastic packaging emissions in the supply chain4 | 2030 | 2018 | Scope 3 emissions down 3% vs 2018 (2024) | In progress |
Initiatives and pacts the company names
Last 24 months
Recent packaging developments
Published 'The Complex Reality of Reusable Packaging in Europe' (PwC UK analysis) as its final evaluation in response to a 2023 shareholder proposal: in a 2030 PPWR scenario with 10% of takeaway in reusables, GHG emissions per restaurant rise 61% and plastic packaging waste 626%; the company argues for fibre packaging plus recycling over reuse mandates.7
SPI analysis
Regulatory exposure
SPI analysis Our reading of the sourced facts above. Not company-reported, not legal advice.
Basis: Presence is taken from the company's Restaurants by Market 2025 list3 and Exhibit 212. In licensed and franchised markets the producer for packaging rules may be the licensee or franchisee rather than McDonald's Corporation. Rule IDs are from the SPI Regulation Tracker; applicability is SPI's reading for foodservice packaging (fibre cups, bags, cartons, plastic cups and lids, reusables), not legal advice.
Plastic taxes: UK Plastic Packaging Tax (PR-GB-001) and Spain's non-reusable plastic packaging tax (PR-ES-001) apply to plastic cups, lids and containers where they are below the recycled-content threshold; McDonald's uses 100% recycled plastic cups in the UK and Ireland4. Germany's single-use plastics fund levy (PR-DE-002) is a further charge on takeaway packaging. The EU plastic own resource (PR-EU-017) is paid by Member States.
SPI analysis
What this means for packaging suppliers
SPI analysis Our reading of the sourced facts above. Not company-reported, not legal advice.
McDonald's guest packaging is mainly fibre (82% globally, 96% in Europe), sourced almost entirely from recycled or certified fibre, and the company has made clear it prefers renewable, recyclable fibre to reusable plastic. Demand signals therefore favour certified paperboard, moulded fibre (lids, sundae and McFlurry cups, salad boxes), PFAS-free barrier coatings (99.82% of items already free of added fluorinated compounds) and recycled-content plastic cups where plastic remains. At the same time, PPWR reuse obligations for takeaway, France's dine-in reuse rule and Germany's reuse offer keep a market open for durable polypropylene cups and dishes and for washing and return services, even though the company reports poor return rates. Fibre cup collection (The Cup Collective, 4evergreen) and in-store recycling are areas where recyclers, not converters, are named partners. Because about 95% of restaurants are franchised and licensees run China, Japan, Brazil and other big markets, buying decisions are spread across regional supply chains. No packaging supplier is named in the sources reviewed; this describes demand, not who supplies.
Limits
Data gaps
What the sources reviewed do not show, or what we could not confirm. Know something we have missed? Tell the SPI team and we will check it.
- End-of-2025 results for the 2025 packaging, fluorinated-compound, guest recycling and Happy Meal toy goals were not found; latest data is end of 2024.
- No post-2025 packaging targets found.
- No packaging tonnage or plastic share of packaging stated in the sources reviewed.
- No packaging manufacturer relationships publicly announced in the sources reviewed.
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation Global Commitment or Plastics Pact membership beyond Canada not confirmed.
- Exact publication dates of the Purpose & Impact Report 2024-2025 and the 10-K not confirmed (EDGAR files show 24 February 2026 modification dates).
- Kenya presence not confirmed.
- Which entity (McDonald's, franchisee or licensee) is the legal producer under each packaging law is not determined.
- Final 7,823 characters of the 10-K text were not read.
Evidence
Sources
- McDonald's Corporation – Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025Regulatory filing · published Feb 2026 · consulted 13 Oct 2026
- McDonald's Corporation – Exhibit 21, Subsidiaries of the Registrant (FY2025 10-K)Regulatory filing · published Feb 2026 · consulted 13 Oct 2026
- McDonald's – Restaurants by Market 2025Company publication · published 2026 · consulted 13 Oct 2026
- McDonald's – Purpose & Impact Report 2024-2025Company publication · published 2025 · consulted 13 Oct 2026
- McDonald's – Goal Performance & ReportingCompany publication · consulted 13 Oct 2026
- McDonald's – Packaging, Toys & WasteCompany publication · consulted 13 Oct 2026
- McDonald's – The Complex Reality of Reusable Packaging in Europe (final evaluation in response to 2023 shareholder proposal)Company publication · published Oct 2025 · consulted 13 Oct 2026
Targets in the register above link to their own source. Facts are summarised in the SPI team's words; quotes are marked.
Method
About the SPI Buyers Database
- Purpose
- To help packaging makers and suppliers see what large buyers have committed to publicly, by end use and region, and how far they have got.
- Coverage
- 42 large brand owners and retailers so far, chosen for their size in packaging demand. It is not a complete list of buyers in any market.
- Data sources
- Each company's own sustainability, annual and ESG reports, press releases and filings, plus official sources where a pledge was made to a public body.
- SPI Methodology
- For each target we record the wording, the target year, the latest progress the company reports and a short quote from the source. Status says met or missed only when the company states the result; otherwise it shows in progress or not reported.
- Limitations
- Companies report on different bases and years. Headquarters countries and end uses are assigned by the SPI team and are not separately sourced. Rows have not yet been re-checked by a second SPI team member. No contacts, purchase volumes, supplier relationships or pack specifications are included.
- Access
- Free to read and to download as CSV. For an analysis of a buyer group for your products, ask for a buyer briefing.
Ask the SPI team
Selling packaging to these companies?
We map a buyer's public commitments and deadlines to the materials and formats they affect, and assess the opportunity for converters and material suppliers.
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Questions people bring
- Q1
Which material should replace our current pack?
We compare the realistic alternatives on recyclability evidence, regulatory fit and cost direction, and say where the evidence is thin.
- Q2
How do our targets compare with our peers'?
We benchmark the public packaging commitments and reported progress of the companies you name, each with its source.