McDonald's Canada has launched an investigation into how dozens of industrial-sized condiment bags have come to litter the coastline of the Bay of Fundy over the past two years.
Karen Jenner, a local resident who regularly collects litter along the shore, has reported finding 46 empty bags of Big Mac and McChicken sauce between Harbourville and Halls Harbour, Nova Scotia. The large plastic pouches are typically used to refill sauce dispensers in restaurant kitchens.
Ms Jenner told CBC News that while she often encounters international debris carried by ocean currents, the bilingual English and French labelling on the bags indicates the waste probably originated within the Maritime provinces. “It's very sporadic but so far I have found 46 of them,” she said, adding that the number suggests a problem in the waste disposal process used by McDonald's, whether at a specific franchise or a third-party firm.
Ms Jenner said she had tried to contact the company for two years with little success until a recent follow-up. “They said the messages never went through to the right people,” she said. “I question that, but they are looking into it now, which I appreciate. It's disappointing that it's taken so long for that to happen though.”
In a statement to CBC News, McDonald's Canada confirmed it was taking the reports seriously and investigating the source of the litter. Ms Jenner expressed hope that identifying the “broken link” in the disposal chain would prevent further plastic waste from reaching the bay's tides.
