Due to the increased focus on corporate social responsibility, most firms explore the “green” initiatives as their competitive strategic tool. Some of the environmental concerns include end-of-life cycle products, waste management, compliance with legal authorities, and the use of recyclable materials. The concept of Green Sourcing has emerged as one of the approaches to address these issues. It is an environmental-conscious strategy that eliminates the sources of waste and enhances sustainability. McDonald’s is among the multinational companies that need Green Sourcing initiatives to enhance its performance. One of the pressing issues is the use of plastic packaging materials. People are becoming worried about the impact of plastics on the natural environment. If McDonald’s wants to win consumers' trust, save the environment, and save operational costs, it needs to implement green packaging; it entails using biodegradable materials to protect food from harm, conserve natural resources, and reduce pollution. Green packaging will involve McDonald’s management collaborating with suppliers and manufacturers that provide green materials for packaging foodstuffs to enhance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Reasons for Green Sourcing
McDonald’s needs to adopt Green Sourcing to address environmental concerns, boost its reputation, and enhance its economic performance. Green Sourcing is an environmentally focused purchasing strategy that eliminates waste and promotes sustainability of the purchased goals without adversely affecting a firm’s performance (Min & Choi , 2019). Some of the reasons for adopting this strategy include reducing environmental violation penalties, waste disposal costs, and improved brand image and perception. Recently, McDonald’s faced sharp criticism after news outlets reported that it uses around 1.8 million straws in the United Kingdom alone (BBC News, 2019). Although McDonald’s has attempted to make its straws eco-friendly, most consumers are skeptical about McDonald’s dedication to addressing environmental concerns. McDonald’s needs to integrate Green Sourcing in its business model to serve as a unique selling point and improve its competitiveness (Min & Choi , 2019). Green Sourcing strategies will change the way the public views McDonald’s. It will strengthen their support and loyalty for the company, transforming into increased market share and profits. Green Sourcing will also reduce the cost of garbage collection and recycling.
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Green Sourcing Process
There will be different Green Sourcing processes in McDonald’s supply chain. The management has to assess the opportunities for Green Sourcing. The first step is to change the waste management system, which entails recycling, packaging, and disposal of products. McDonald’s management will seek local suppliers who can provide green packaging products, including straws, wraps, containers, and lids. This process involves terminating plastic manufacturers and suppliers in the supply chain. McDonald’s needs to implement a green design to address environmental problems, cost reductions, and safety objectives (Verma et al., 2018). Customers are concerned that McDonald’s packaging materials have significantly contributed to environmental pollution. Hence McDonald’s needs to introduce green packaging materials such as nano-papers, biocomposite materials, and bio-nanocomposers (Moustafa et al., 2019). These materials are biodegradable and non-toxic. The research and development and quality assurance departments will check the suppliers’ and manufacturers’ green packaging materials to ensure they cannot harm the environment and customers. According to a recent study, customers believe that eco-friendly packaging materials should be reusable, biodegradable, and non-toxic (Nguyen et al., 2020). Suppliers and McDonald’s management will ensure that there is standardization in the manufacture of green packaging materials. They will send some employees to investigate the production of green packaging products. These employees will ensure that nanomaterial or antimicrobial nanoparticles are reinforced in the green packaging materials' structure to foster the bio-polymetric properties and attain the global market needs (Moustafa et al., 2019). Antimicrobial materials protect consumers from bacterial infections.
Besides, manufacturing technology determines the effectiveness of the green design. McDonald’s eco-friendly packaging materials should be a product of an eco-friendly manufacturing process that uses natural and organic sources of raw materials (Nguyen et al., 2020). Manufacturers need to ensure that they integrate the bio-polymers with nanomaterials retrieved from plants and animals. Packaging materials are an integral part of McDonald’s business model. They protect food from damage and provide customers with the correct constituents and nutritional needs (Moustafa et al., 2019). Packaging materials also enhance the preparation of goods for sale, effective handling, storage, distribution, consumption, reuse, and transport. The manufacturers will mold biopolymers into bottles and jugs. McDonald’s management will maximize the benefits of green packaging by directing its employees, suppliers, and manufacturers to implement intelligent packaging. This model involves providing information about the package's history and the quality of the foodstuffs using a time-temperature indicator (Moustafa et al., 2019). Intelligent packaging informs the consumers about the time the food was produced. There will also be a temperature indicator to inform customers if the food is safe for consumption. Green packaging material will change its color to indicate whether the food has been subjected to unfavorable conditions, such as extremely high temperatures. The final step of Green Sourcing involves employees informing the customers about the green packaging. They will inform them about the environmental benefits associated with green packaging. If customers can visualize the significance of green packaging, they will pay premium prices for the new product.
Pros
Green packaging offers McDonald’s significant benefits. It reduces the company’s handling costs and inputs (Jassim et al., 2020). Green packaging factors the costs of shipping, compliance, performance, and environmental impact. It ensures that foodstuffs are safe from damage during storage, handling, and transportation. Besides, green materials decompose without polluting the environment. McDonald’s does not have to invest in recycling processes. Green packaging materials save natural resources and improve a brand’s reputation.
Cons
Green packaging can also be disadvantageous to McDonald’s. One of this strategy's limitations is the increased cost of the associated processes (Singh & Pandey, 2019). McDonald’s will have to eliminate the plastic packaging materials from its supply chain and seek new suppliers. These processes can be expensive, and they could reduce the firm’s profit margins. Although most customers appreciate companies that adopt eco-friendly procedures, only a few of them are willing to purchase foods packed in green materials (Singh & Pandey, 2018). Some people are not aware of their purchasing behaviors’ impact on the environment. Besides, some customers may be unwilling to pay for the green packaging materials’ premium prices. As a result, McDonald’s may realize a slow growth rate during the early stages of green packaging implementation.
Incorporating Sustainability
McDonald’s can enhance its social, economic, and environmental sustainability using green packaging materials. Factors that affect McDonald’s social sustainability include human rights, social responsibility, community development, health, and product responsibility (Verma et al., 2018). The concept of green packaging addresses the needs of the American community. Unlike plastics, which pose health risks, green packaging materials are safe for human consumption and harmless to livestock’s health (Singh & Pandey, 2018). McDonald’s relies on both humans and animals to be successful. Thus, the introduction of green packaging materials will prove its dedication to improving people and livestock’s health outcomes. One of McDonald’s corporate social responsibilities is to protect the environment. Green packaging materials are biodegradable materials that can be naturally broken down and assimilated back into the atmosphere as elements such as hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen (Singh & Pandey, 2018). Customers are likely to pay premium prices for products that protect their health and the environment. If McDonald’s implements green packaging, it will gain positive feedback from the customers. The public support for eco-friendly products has significantly increased in recent years (Singh & Pandey, 2018). People want to be associated with companies that have implemented environmental-friendly activities, such as green packaging. Besides, green packaging materials prioritize human health. They contain antimicrobial materials, such as enzymes and metal oxides that prevent fungal and bacterial growth, leading to prolonged food shelf life and safety during storage and handling processes (Moustafa et al., 2019). Although some customers may be unaware of the significance of green packaging, McDonald’s has to ensure that it follows the global standards to enhance social sustainability.
Green packaging also enhances McDonald’s economic sustainability. McDonald’s economic performance is linked to profitability and the ability to reduce operating costs. Green packaging eliminates waste, decreases manufacturing procedures, produces effective goods, and minimizes costs (Jassim et al., 2020). This initiative protects McDonald’s from legal obligations, such as paying fines for polluting the environment. It also reduces the cost of waste management. The money that would have been used in collecting and recycling plastics could be used saved or invested in marketing the green packaging materials. Besides, green packaging materials protect food from damages during storage and transportation and prevent bacterial growth (Moustafa et al., 2019). McDonald’s is likely to benefit from a green design by selling foods with prolonged shell-life. Green packaging reduces operational costs and increases profits.
Moreover, green packaging promotes environmental sustainability. Green packaging materials are recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable. These features enhance their ability to reduce carbon footprint (Singh & Pandey, 2018). McDonald’s will benefit from reduced environmental risks and increased ecological efficiency, resulting in environmental sustainability. Besides, green packaging improves the quality of air, soil, and water. These environmental elements improve McDonald’s stakeholders’ health outcomes. The outcome will be an efficient business process.
Conclusion
Overall, Green Sourcing improves a company’s sustainability. At McDonald’s, green packaging will enhance the storage, handling, and transportation of food. The use of green materials eliminates plastic pollution. McDonald’s management needs to eradicate plastics from its supply chain, meaning suppliers and manufacturers should provide foods packed in green materials. This strategy will enhance McDonald’s social, environmental, and economic sustainability. The social aspect of green packaging includes improved brand reputation. Also, customers are likely to pay premium prices for high-quality and environmentally-conscious products. Environmental sustainability will result from a reduction in environmental risks and improved ecological efficiency. Other benefits include reduced cost of waste management, food storage and handling, and environmental violation fines. Certainly, green packaging should be considered as a core component of McDonald’s business strategy.
References
BBC News. (2019). McDonald’s paper straws cannot be recycled . https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49234054
Jassim, S., Al-Mubarak, M., & Hamdan, A. (2020). The impact of green supply chain management on firm’s performance. Journal of Information & Knowledge Management , 19 (01), 2040026. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219649220400262
Min, H., & Choi, S. B. (2019). Green sourcing practices in Korea. Management Research Review , 43(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-11-2018-0446
Moustafa, H., Youssef, A. M., Darwish, N. A., & Abou-Kandil, A. I. (2019). Eco-friendly polymer composites for green packaging: Future vision and challenges. Composites Part B: Engineering , 172 , 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2019.05.048
Nguyen, A. T., Parker, L., Brennan, L., & Lockrey, S. (2020). A consumer definition of eco-friendly packaging. Journal of Cleaner Production , 252 , 119792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119792
Singh, G., & Pandey, N. (2019). Revisiting green packaging from a cost perspective. Benchmarking: An International Journal . https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-04-2018-0099
Singh, G., & Pandey, N. (2018). The determinants of green packaging that influence buyers’ willingness to pay a price premium. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ) , 26 (3), 221-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2018.06.001
Verma, D., Dixit, R. V., & Singh, K. (2018). Green supply chain management: A necessity for sustainable development. IUP Journal of Supply Chain Management , 15 (1).
