A mother has been left panicking after McDonald's announced it would be axing plastic cutlery in all its UK stores. Tricia Finnigan said her autistic son Alex, 28, who is non-verbal, loves the fast food chain's plastic McFlurry spoons - and has been known to get violent if he cannot get hold of one.
This has left Tricia, from Maghull near Liverpool, fearing how her son will cope when the plastic spoons are replaced with paper ones - a move that started being gradually rolled out as of Tuesday. For more than 10 years, Alex has carried a McFlurry spoon everywhere with him and uses them to "reduce his anxiety", the Liverpool Echo reports.
Tricia says Alex is normally placid, but he can become violent, hitting his head, if he can't find one. The 60-year-old has been buying them from McDonald's for £12 a box, while friends and family will also collect them for her to give to Alex.
But now even restaurants are struggling to get hold of them as they are already being phased out - and Tricia doesn't know what she's going to do when they eventually cannot pick up any new ones. She says they are the "only things he is interested in" and isn't sure how she will manage his behaviour without them.
The fast food giant said it hopes the move to get rid of the plastic cutlery will eliminate 858 metric tonnes of plastic each year. But while the move is good for the environment, Tricia said the announcement left her in a state of "panic", with only three months worth of spoons left in her stockpile.
She told the Echo: "He carries them with him all the time, he takes them to bed, to the toilet and wherever he goes he constantly has them in his hands. When we can't get them he has meltdowns.
"He can't get no for an answer, he will grab hold of us and forces us out of the door. He is usually extremely placid but he can become violent. He has hit his head a few times and taken the door off its hinges in a desperate attempt to try and get the spoons."
She added: "When we found out it was sheer panic and frantic desperation I don't know how we will manage his behaviour. Even the restaurants can't get hold of them as they have been discontinued, they are the only thing he is interested in.
"I am desperately worried because if he turns violent family members are going to get hurt, he is six foot and over 20 stone. As he is non-verbal he will not accept that we can't get them."
Nina Prichard, head of sustainable and ethical sourcing at McDonald's, said: "As a business, we're committed to taking action on packaging and waste and increasing our use of sustainable materials. We're pleased to announce another step forward in eliminating single-use plastics and it's great to be switching our famous McFlurry spoons to this new paper-based material."
