ABSTRACT
Environmental leadership is part of the basic corporate philosophy at McDonald’s Corporation and has been for many years. A special 1991 Environmental Defense Fund study estimated that, depending on the restaurant, drive-through and take-out customers made up 50% to 70% of McDonald’s business, and over-the-counter solid waste accounted for about 21% of the average restaurant’s total solid waste. In February 1992 McDonald’s published its “Blue Book” on implementing a local/regional phone book recycling program. “Recycling has become one of McDonald’s cornerstone business philosophies, embraced by every McDonald’s restaurant throughout the county,” said Michael Dill, senior operations consultant at McDonald’s Corporation in San Diego. McDonald’s has found that recycled products meet both their quality and their economic standards. “McDonald’s shares the McRecycle USA Registry data base with other businesses, trade associations, and government agencies. McDonald’s Corporation uses paper-based packaging instead of polystyrene for its menu items.
