McDonald’s Germany is Recycling Cold Cups into Children’s Books for Happy Meals

In Germany, McDonald’s is giving new meaning to the phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” by creating something new out of something old. Since 2012, McDonald’s Germany has distributed more than 80 million books in Happy Meals – much to the delight of their youngest fans. But they realized they could make the practice even more sustainable by using recycled materials to create the books.

A novel idea

Building on McDonald's global goal to drastically reduce plastics in Happy Meal toys around the globe and transition to more sustainable materials by the end of 2025, the German Market launched a series of seven children’s books that are made of 40% recycled cold cup material. Yep – the same cold cups that were used to serve your McDonald’s beverage of choice, whether that be a soft drink or milkshake.

And get this: The books aren’t just made of more sustainable materials – their pages also tell stories about nature and sustainability, teaching the next generation about critical topics like upcycling or the importance of bees.

Every book also had a QR code that connects readers to four mini games that are designed to help them understand how McDonald’s recycles used cups into the brand-new books they’re reading. 

Writing the future

McDonald's Germany's recycled books are just one way we are working toward McDonald's goal to drastically reduce plastics in Happy Meal toys around the globe and transition to more sustainable materials by the end of 2025. 

Doing so is expected to result in an approximately 90% reduction in the virgin fossil fuel-based plastic used to create our toys – all while keeping the fun alive for our littlest customers.