Fast food chain Supermac’s to ditch non-recycable cups

Hot on the heels of a rival’s decision to ditch the use of plastic straws, Irish fast-food restaurant chain Supermac’s says it will only serve coffee in “100 per cent recyclable” cups from September.

It has pledged to start replacing plastic with paper straws before that, and is also introducing “biodegradable” burger wrap as part of a “Go Green” initiative.

The move was welcomed by Minister for Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten at the opening of a service station in Roscommon town on Thursday.

Mr Naughten, who was joined by Supermac’s owner Pat McDonagh at the event, said plastic waste was a “global crisis”.

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It takes “leadership and action from all of us, collectively and individually… to tackle this problem and reduce the generation of plastic waste in our environment,” said Mr Naughten.

Motorway stopovers

The Supermac’s “Glan agus Glas” initiative would be extended across all of the Supermac’s 110 outlets, having been tested in Westport, Co Mayo, said Mr McDonagh.

The company runs several motorway stopovers, including the Barack Obama plaza in Moneygall, Co Offaly, and has recently reignited plans for a plaza on the M18 between Limerick and Galway.

Last month , the US fast food chain McDonald’s announced it would abandon use of plastic straws in its British restaurants next year. The company is said to use about 1.8 million straws daily in Britain.