MCDONALD’S CALLS ON THE LOCAL COMMUNITY TO HELP SPRING CLEAN

McDonald’s across Northern Ireland is calling on members of its local community to join the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful Big Spring Clean taking place throughout April.McDonald’s is delighted to be participating in the Big Spring Clean for the 5th consecutive year and as part of this year’s effort McDonald’s would like to unite with members of the community in a clean-up operation to rid the streets of unsightly litter.  If there is an area which you think could would benefit from a spruce up please email suggestions to info@aikenpr.com by Thursday 9th April.

Jason Nevitt from McDonald’s said: “The Big Spring Clean Campaign is an effective way of making a positive difference to neighbourhoods and in previous years it has been inspiring to see members of the community join forces to take action on litter that damages our environment. At McDonald’s we believe it is important for everyone to help protect and preserve the environment for future generations and we're committed to finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in our restaurants and across our business.”Dr Ian Humphreys, CEO of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “We believe that the BIG Spring Clean is an effective way of making a positive difference to various localities across Northern Ireland and showing that we live here and we love here.”

“It’s inspiring to see organisations like McDonald’s join forces with the communities they serve to take action on litter that damages our environment. I’m delighted that all 27 McDonald’s restaurants in Northern Ireland will be taking part in this year’s campaign and I wish them every success for their clean ups.”

McDonald’s has supported the Big Spring Clean Campaign since 2010. At the 2014 BIG Spring Clean, McDonald’s staff across Northern Ireland took part in 26 events, collecting over 2 tonnes of discarded waste by cleaning rivers, forests, beaches and housing estates.  As well as the larger-scale Big Spring Clean events, staff at every McDonald’s restaurant also patrol the streets around each store at least three times a day to collect all litter that has been discarded, regardless of its origin.-ends-

For more information, interviews or images please contact:Louise Carson or Caroline Murphy at Aiken PR on 02890663000 or caroline@aikenpr.comNotes to Editor:McDonald’s has been working hard since 1982 to reduce the amount of litter on streets and was the first restaurant to introduce ‘Litter Patrols’ in the UK.  McDonald’s employees already undertake three litter patrols every day collecting any litter they see in and around restaurants.  To help reduce the amount of litter McDonald’s produces, the minimum packaging possible is used when serving food. As well as this McDonald’s aims to reduce all restaurant waste and increase the amount that can be recycled. Cardboard is collected from 90% of restaurants for recycling, removing around 10,000 tonnes of cardboard per year from landfill.