McDonald's restaurants in South Yorkshire, England, are rerouting their discarded wrappers and waste from landfills to an energy recovery facility that will convert the garbage into electricity.

The test project, which begins Wednesday, is expected to divert 100 tonnes of waste from each of the 11 participating restaurants annually. The waste will be converted and used to power 130 buildings, including a hospital, a theatre, a sports centre and a city hall in the region.

"Many recycling contractors refuse to take our waste because we cannot remove food from it completely," Steve Easterbrook, president and chief executive officer of McDonald's UK, told the BBC. "As a result, we have to send it to landfill."

The fast-food restaurants will also be introducing eco-friendly initiatives, including solar panels and new recycling systems for cardboard.