McDonald's has announced a move to wooden cutlery at a national plastics summit on Monday.

The one-day summit in Canberra on Monday, and hosted by federal Environmental Minister Sussan Ley, will bring together 200 attendees from government, industry and community sectors.

The summit aimed at reducing pollution will call on the federal government to mandate that 100 per cent of plastic packaging be reusable, compostable or recyclable by 2025.

The fast food chain has announced plans to axe plastic cutlery in favour of wooden utensils, which will soon be available in all 900-plus stores across Australia.

Plastic cutlery will be phased out by the end of this year.

Sydney youngster Jimmy Egan, 5, and brother Sean 3, were among the first McDonalds customers to test the new wooden cutlery that will be introduced in outlets across Australia

'We're committed to being an industry leader in sustainable practices, ultimately using our scale for good to positively impact challenges facing the communities we operate in,' McDonald's Australia supply chain and sustainability director Kylie Freeland said in a statement.

'By removing plastic straws and cutlery from McDonald's restaurants, we are continuing to reduce our environmental footprint and will be removing more than 860 tonnes of plastic from our system.'

McDonald's conducted a three-month trial on wooden cutlery in nine outlets across New Zealand late last year.

The latest move by McDonald's Australia comes after its pledge announced 18 months ago to phase out plastic straws by the end of this year.

The business has also removed plastic lids from McFlurry cups and replaced its salad bowls and sundae cups with fibre-based alternatives.

McDonald's supervisor Shao Chen also gave wooden cutlery the big thumbs up at his outlet in Haberfield in Sydney's inner-west

McDonald's isn't only major big brand that will unveil its plans to do their bit for the environment at the summit on Monday.

Nestle will also reveal its plans to collect biscuit packets and bread bags from more than 100,000 households.

'We know that soft plastics is an area that needs greater focus and collaboration,' said Nestle Australia chief executive Sandra Martinez said.

'We need to find ways to drive more recycling here.'

In a joint statement, the Boomerang Alliance and the World Wide Fund Australia says plastic enters Australian oceans at a rate of 130,000 tonnes a year.

But with plastic recycling rates only reaching nine per cent, they say the federal and state governments must intervene where the market has failed.

Wooden cutlery will soon be in all 900-plus McDonald's outlets across Australia (stock image)

'There are alternatives to plastic packaging, but they won't be adopted unless governments take the lead,' WWF-Australia's Katinka Day said in a statement.

She says the federal government should use the summit to mandate that 100 per cent of plastic packaging will be reusable, compostable or recyclable by 2025.

Local Government NSW president Linda Scott says Australians need to see more action from state and federal governments to reduce waste and its costs to communities to create a more sustainable future.

'Councils and communities are passionate about doing their bit, but they're at the end of the waste supply chain, and local government kerbside recycling programs are only a small part of the solution,' she said in a statement.

McDonald's has announced plans to turn its back on plastic and introduce wooden cutlery

She said the NSW state government must act to ban single use plastic bags and reinvest the NSW waste levy - nearly $800 million a year - into funding councils to save recycling.

The Australian Council of Recycling said the summit is an opportunity for real action rather than just rhetoric.

'A summit that puts substance before stylistics is what we need to deal with the plastics problem,' the council's CEO Peter Shmigel, who will chair one of the summit's sessions, said.

He said while banning some types of plastic products is understandable, such as single use imported items, many serve very positive purposes.

'Therefore, we need to get smarter with the plastic we do use, especially ensuring its recyclability and that plastic products are made with lower-emissions, domestically sourced recycled resin ASAP,' he said.