McDonald’s ditches iconic item after nearly 30 years to ‘help save the environment’

McDonald’s is phasing out a signature gadget to “help save the environment.”

The fast food giant revealed that it will no longer offer the hollow, square-shaped McFlurry spoon, but will instead offer a “smaller black spoon that uses less plastic.”

The McFlurry is a mixture of smooth vanilla with topping, and the spoon acts as a reusable spinner to mix the candy.

This announcement comes nearly 30 years after the spoon was introduced to the public, becoming a tool known around the world.

‘True McFlurry fans know that the spoon acts as a spinner, used by restaurant staff to mix the perfect amount of sweet toppings into our smooth, creamy serving. And starting this month, it’s about to get a sustainable glow in the United States.

The announcement also noted that the reusable mandrel will be mixed instead, replaced and cleaned after each McFlurry is manufactured.

McDonald’s recently launched an effort to reduce accumulated waste from packaging and toys.

The food chain switched to paper straws, added new McFlurry cups without plastic lids, and introduced salad boxes and cutlery made from renewable fibers.

However, the new spoons are still made of plastic – in less quantity because they will be smaller.

The company has completely ditched plastic cutlery in Europe, replacing it with paper options.

A report in 2021 showed that McDonald’s produced more than 300 million pounds of plastic in 2018.

The findings may have led the food chain on a greener path as it heralded a major environmental effort to combat waste.

“By the end of 2022, we are approximately 81.0 percent of the way toward our goal of sourcing 100 percent of our guest core packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials,” McDonald’s said in a statement.

Data published in July showed that restaurant had the second highest plastic polluter in the UK, with Coca-Cola taking first place.

Surfers Against Sewage enlisted the help of 4,240 volunteers, who picked up items across 500 beach, river, forest and street cleanups.

Volunteers collected 30,745 individual items between June 6, 2022 and June 5, 2023.

An analysis of this litter revealed that 36 percent came from just 327 brands.

Coca-Cola, which owns several popular brands, including Monster, Coca-Cola and Costa, topped the list as the worst polluters, with 1,820 items collected.

It was followed by McDonald’s, which is responsible for 1,220 products, and Pepsi-Cola, whose brands include 7Up, Pepsi and Walkers, which consists of 976 products.