<P> McRecycle USA began in 1990 and included a commitment to purchase at least $100 million worth of recycled products annually for use in construction, remodeling, and equipping restaurants . Chairs, table bases, table tops, eating counters, table columns, waste receptacles, corrugated cartons, packaging, and washroom tissue were all made from recycled products . McDonald's worked with the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund to develop a comprehensive solid waste reduction program . Wrapping burgers in paper rather than plastic led to a 90 percent reduction in the wrapping material waste stream . </P> <P> It took McDonald's 33 years to open its first 10,000 restaurants . The 10,000 th unit opened in April 1988 . Incredibly, the company reached the 20,000 - restaurant mark in only eight more years, in mid-1996 . By the end of 1997 the total had surpassed 23,000, and by that time McDonald's was opening 2,000 new restaurants each year, an average of five every day . </P> <P> Much of the growth of the 1990s came outside the US, with international units increasing from about 3,600 in 1991 to more than 11,000 by 1998 . The number of countries with McDonald's outlets nearly doubled from 59 in 1991 to 114 in late 1998 . In 1993, a new region was added to the empire when the first McDonald's in the Middle East opened in Tel Aviv, Israel . As the company entered new markets, it showed increasing flexibility with respect to local food preferences and customs . In Israel, for example, the first kosher McDonald's opened in a Jerusalem suburb in 1995 . In Arab countries the restaurant chain used "Halal" menus, which complied with Islamic laws for food preparation . In 1996 McDonald's entered India for the first time, where it offered a Big Mac made with lamb called the Maharaja Mac . That same year the first McSki - Thru opened in Lindvallen, Sweden . </P> <P> Overall, the company derived increasing percentages of its revenue and income from outside the US . In 1992 about two - thirds of systemwide sales came from U.S. McDonald's, but by 1997 that figure was down to about 51 percent . Similarly, the operating income numbers showed a reduction from about 60 percent of sales derived from the US in 1992 to 42.5 percent in 1997 . </P>

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