Burger King permanently bans drink cups’ plastic lids in the UK

Burger King is making some changes in its restaurants in the United Kingdom. It announced that it would permanently ban soft drink plastic lids and other single-use plastic in all of its locations across the U.K.

Burger King said that it is making this move as part of its efforts for sustainability. This is one huge step to going green and is predicted to cut out about 30,000 kilograms of plastic per year. This will also take away a massive 17 million plastic lids from circulation.

In 2019, the global burger joint brand already stopped including plastic toys in its King Jr. Meals, and now, it is removing all the plastic lids on drink cups of customers who are dining in BK restaurants around the country. The company melted all the plastic toys for recycling at that time, so the plastics did not end up in landfills.

Moreover, the fast-food chain said that this decision is also being carried out to fulfill or implement its ongoing commitment to attaining the goal of 0% single-use plastic by the year 2025.

The full list of beverages and items that will be affected by the removal of plastic lids includes Coke drink products, Sprite, Fanta, Dr. Pepper, frozen drinks, milkshakes, and other freestyle drinks. This Burger King initiative was described as a bold undertaking for quick-service restaurants (QSR) in the UK.

Then again, it was clarified that some beverages may still be served with lids on. Products, including hot drinks, delivery orders, and food-to-go, may still have them for health and safety precautions.

“We are excited to be introducing this permanent removal of plastic lids in restaurants, ultimately reducing single-use plastics,” Oxford Mail quoted Burger King UK’s chief marketing officer, Katie Evans, as saying in a statement. “Our Meltdown campaign in 2019, removing plastic toys from King Jr Meals, was the first significant step on our journey and this next step will take us closer to reaching our target of removing all single-use plastic by 2025.”

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