27 February 2023: Thousands of volunteers from over 300 McDonald’s restaurants and five corporate offices are supporting Clean Up Australia Day this year, by removing rubbish and cleaning up local communities across Australia.

McDonald’s Australia has been a founding partner of Clean Up Australia Day, the country’s largest community based environmental event, since its inception in 1989.

During this time, over 133,000 McDonald’s volunteers have participated in Clean Up Australia Day, removing more than 7,000 ute loads of rubbish from local communities across the country.

Bianca Agius, Director of Impact and Corporate Relations for McDonald’s Australia, said: “As a founding partner of Clean Up Australia Day, we care about supporting our communities and keeping waste out of outdoor spaces and the environment.

“Continuing Macca’s 33-year partnership with Clean Up Australia Day, we are committed to using our scale for good and doing our part to protect local communities today and into the future.

“It’s inspiring to see so many of our restaurant and corporate employees get behind the cause and help us play an active role in the communities we serve across Australia.

Since 1989, McDonald’s Australia has donated over $5 million to help Clean Up Australia continue its mission to inspire and empower communities to clean up, fix up and conserve the environment.

Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia, added: “McDonald’s has been with us from the start, helping to champion our cause and engage supporters to drive real change. This year we have 347 McDonald’s restaurants and 5 corporate offices across the country signed up to play an active role in cleaning up their local communities. This collective impact will make a real difference. When we take time to connect with the environment and clean it up, we become more conscious of our environmental footprint,” she said.

To register or donate to Clean Up Australia Day, please visit cleanup.org.au

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About McDonald’s Australia:

Australia’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened in Yagoona, Sydney, in 1971. Today there are over 1,025 McDonald’s restaurants across Australia, nearly 85 percent of which are franchised and run by local businessmen and women. The organisation employs more than 110,000 people in restaurants and corporate offices Australia-wide and is the largest employer of youth in the country. McDonald’s creates more than 3,000 new jobs each year and spends over $40 million per annum on training and people development.

 For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com.au or McDonald’s social channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.

About McDonald’s Australia’s commitment to packaging and waste:

McDonald’s Australia is committed to using its scale, purchasing and platforms for good. Together with our customers, employees, franchisees, farmers, producers and suppliers, we’re finding ways to reduce emissions, keep waste out of nature and preserve natural resources.

In 2021, McDonald’s phased out single use plastic straws and cutlery, removing more than 500 million straws and 115 million pieces of cutlery from circulation. In 2022, McDonald’s replaced the clear plastic iced beverage cups and lids in McCafé’s across Western Australia with fibre and paper-based cups. The shift has removed approximately 17.5 million cups and lids – around 140 tonnes of plastic – from annual circulation.

Western Australia will be the first to see this change, with McDonald’s planning to roll out further packaging changes across Australia, as the company progressed towards sourcing its customer packaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources.

For more than a decade, McDonald’s Australia has been working alongside the global business to scope and introduce initiatives including the removal of plastic lids from McFlurry cups, the introduction of fibre- based salad bowls, the removal of plastic carry bags and reducing the weight of sundae cups.

About Clean Up Australia:

Founded by Ian Kiernan, AO, Clean Up Australia is one of the country’s most recognised and trusted environmental organisations, inspiring and empowering communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment. More than 20 million Australians have participated in a Clean Up activity since its inception.

Clean Up Australia now works with community, governments and business to provide practical solutions to help all Australians live more sustainably every day of the year. Today the organisation’s focus is as much on preventing rubbish entering our environment as it is removing what has already accumulated.