McDonald’s Netherlands will move exclusively to reusable drinks cups for customers consuming beverages inside its restaurants from January 2027 following enforcement action by the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate.
The regulator, known as ILT, has issued McDonald’s Nederland with a formal order requiring it to comply with Dutch rules covering single-use plastic cups by 5 January 2027.
Failure to comply could result in penalties of €625,000 for each infringement, up to a maximum of €3.75 million.
The enforcement action follows inspections that found McDonald’s had not complied with the rules for on-site consumption since 2024. ILT said the company was supplying disposable cups containing plastic without collecting them separately for recycling and was also failing to maintain the required records concerning its use of disposable plastics.
Dutch rules applying since January 2024 make reusable packaging the standard for food and beverages consumed on site. Disposable cups containing plastic may still be used under an exemption if businesses establish a system to collect the packaging separately for recycling and comply with the associated requirements.
ILT conducted inspections at 32 McDonald’s locations following an enforcement request from environmental organisation Fair Resource Foundation.
The scale of McDonald’s operations made the case particularly significant. According to ILT, the company supplies around 175 million cups annually in the Netherlands, with approximately half used in its restaurants.
McDonald’s told the regulator that it would switch entirely to reusable cups for on-site drinks from 5 January. ILT said it would inspect the company again in 2027 to determine whether the commitment had been implemented.
McDonald’s has nevertheless questioned whether mandatory reuse necessarily produces the lowest environmental impact in fast-service restaurants.
In its response to the decision, the company said customers sometimes decide to take drinks away after initially consuming them inside a restaurant, complicating the operation of reusable systems. It also argued that low return rates can increase environmental impacts because replacement reusable cups have to be produced.
McDonald’s said its reusable cups contain around 38 times as much plastic as the disposable alternative it currently uses, and argued that consumer behaviour, return rates and the environmental and economic performance of reusable packaging should be considered when regulations are assessed.
The company said it supports the objectives of Dutch single-use plastics legislation and will make the required changes, while continuing discussions with the authorities over packaging rules it believes should reflect the practical conditions of fast-service restaurants.
The enforcement action provides a high-profile test of increasingly stringent European rules intended to shift foodservice packaging away from single-use formats and towards reuse and closed-loop recycling systems.
