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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
James Andrews & Rachel Pugh

McDonald's is changing its Happy Meals for good

For years, children have been opening up their Happy Meal boxes excited t find out which novelty toy is inside.

But from next year, fans of the fast-food chain will see a big change come into place, as plastic toys will no longer be included.

According to the Mirror, from 2021 Happy Meals will come with a soft toy, a book, or a paper-based toy instead.

McDonald's hopes that the change to Happy Meals will save more than 3,000 tonnes of plastic from 2021, which would mark its biggest single reduction to date.

As well as banning plastic toys from its Happy Meals, McDonald's will also run a 'toy amnesty', where customers can bring in unwanted plastic toys in its 1,350 sites across the UK.

The collected toys will be melted down and turned into toys for its charity in the UK and Ireland.

Speaking about the initiative, Gareth Helm, the company's chief marketing officer in the UK, said: "We care passionately about the environment and are committed to reducing plastic across our business including within our Happy Meal.

"Families have high expectations of us and we're working as hard as we can to give them the confidence that their Happy Meal is as sustainable as possible.

"Getting that right is a big responsibility, but we believe the changes we're making today have the potential to make a big difference."

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