McDonald’s China Partners with Lenovo to Create Creative Mouse, Exploring New Models of Resource Recycling
SHANGHAIJune 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Recently, McDonald’s China’s “Reimagined Goodies” initiative has launched a new recycled product: the McDonald’s French Fry-Shaped Mouse (hereinafter referred to as the McDonald’s Mouse), transforming recycled Happy Meal toys into functional and design-driven items, giving discarded plastic a “second life.” As a new exploration in plastic recycling under the “Reimagined Goodies” program, this project marks the first cross-industry resource integration, further expanding innovative scenarios for waste resource reuse and creatively bridging the green supply chain across sectors.
McDonald’s China’s ‘Reimagined Goodies’ initiative launches new recycled product: the McDonald’s French Fry-Shaped Mouse
“Reimagined Goodies” is a circular recycling program launched by McDonald’s China in 2021. Through innovative design and resource integration, it recycles waste materials into recycled products that combine environmental value with brand attributes, supporting sustainable development. Since its inception, “Reimagined Goodies” has successively introduced multiple recycled products, including McGreen trays, eco-friendly charging bikes, Mumbling Elephant toys, Happy Planters, employee uniforms, and plush toys, continuously exploring more possibilities for resource recycling and allowing waste materials to re-enter consumers’ lives in new forms.
Since 2021, ‘Reimagined Goodies’ has launched multiple recycled products, allowing waste materials to re-enter consumers’ lives in new forms
Gu Lei, Chief Impact Officer of McDonald’s China, stated: “Resource recycling is not just about reducing waste; it’s about rediscovering the value of resources. Over the past few years, ‘Reimagined Goodies’ has been exploring how to bring waste materials back into consumers’ lives as new products that combine practical value with emotional connection. This collaboration with Lenovo is an innovative practice for ‘Reimagined Goodies’ to explore new scenarios for resource recycling. By connecting consumer-end recycling with green supply chain capabilities, we hope to help more consumers feel the value of the circular economy and make green lifestyles more tangible and participatory. In the future, we will partner with more collaborators to continue exploring resource recycling scenarios, giving new life to more waste materials and jointly supporting the development of the circular economy.”
The upcoming McDonald’s Mouse is an innovative practice between McDonald’s China and Lenovo in plastic recycling. Lenovo has extensive experience in green supply chain construction and recycled material application. Leveraging their respective strengths, this collaboration explores a new path for recycling waste plastic resources: sorting and recycling old Happy Meal toys, then processing them through Lenovo’s green supply chain system—including disassembly, material regeneration, and professional processing—to transform waste plastic into new materials for production, achieving a resource cycle from consumer end to reuse end.
Old toys that once accompanied children during happy times return to consumers in a new form, extending their use value. The regeneration process from cute toys to digital products makes resource recycling more intuitive and tangible. This collaboration is a co-creation attempt in the field of sustainable development, aiming to explore more possibilities for consumer-end plastic products from “use” to “recycling” through cross-industry synergy, providing a reference for future large-scale practices.
During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, some McDonald’s restaurants set up recycling bins to collect waste plastic toys
Additionally, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, consumers visiting designated McDonald’s restaurants will not only have the chance to get World Cup-themed Happy Meal toys but can also deposit waste plastic toys into designated recycling bins in the restaurants and participate in gacha machine interactions. The collected toys will enter the resource recycling chain, undergoing sorting, recycling, and regeneration processing to create more “Reimagined Goodies” products, allowing consumers to clearly see the environmental value of their actions and making “participating in environmental protection” simple, specific, and tangible.
In recent years, McDonald’s China has been advancing green restaurant construction, packaging reduction, and circular economy practices, aiming to integrate sustainable development concepts into the consumer experience. In the future, McDonald’s China will continue to rely on “Reimagined Goodies” to collaborate with more industry chain partners in exploring circular recycling solutions and innovative application scenarios, giving new life to more materials and contributing to the development of the circular economy.
Appendix: List of Restaurants Participating in Recycling Bin Interactions
Beijing Blue Harbor Restaurant
Shop L-BL2-02, Building 2, Yard 6, Chaoyang Park Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tianjin Leyuan Road Sunshine Paradise Restaurant
Shops 1B-09 (1st Floor) and 2B-09 (2nd Floor), Sunshine Paradise, Cultural Center, No. 9 Leyuan Road, Hexi District, Tianjin
Nanjing Xinglong Metro Station Restaurant
Exit 2, 1st Floor, Xinglong Street Station, Metro Line 2, Jianye District, Nanjing
Shanghai Longteng Avenue Restaurant
1F-2F, Big Mac Cube, No. 2121 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui District, Shanghai