McDonalds has come a far way in how they impact the environment with their restaurant chain. They have established the goals they wish to achieve, made the initiatives they have already put in place available online on their website and have gone into detail on their litter plan and what projects they have for recycling and reducing waste in each of the restaurants.
Goals
McDonalds’ goal is to further improve restaurant efficiency, manage energy usage and costs, recycle waste and conserve and reuse water. McDonalds hope that by 2020 they will have a 20% increase in energy efficiency of Company-owned restaurants, increase energy efficiency through restaurant standards and increase in-restaurant recycling to 50% and reduce waste as much as possible. They have already begun this process seen by the purchase they made in 2014 buying 132,186 pieces of energy efficient equipment.
Climate Change and Energy
McDonalds have joined the White House American Business Act on Climate Pledge which proves their commitment to managing their carbon footprint. Among efforts, they aim to rid of deforestation and support beef, palm oil and fibre for packaging coffee. Their main aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of their restaurant chain by increasing energy efficiency, enabling energy sourcing, minimizing waste and increasing recycling. This aim supports their want to source all of their and packaging sustainably and to ensure that the McDonalds chain of restaurants is as environmentally-efficient as can be. Over the past few decades, McDonalds has already partnered up with over 25 organisations to create a lasting impact in terms of climate change.
Case Studies:
Combination Trailer Innovation
Richard Wilson
Logistics Director
Arla Foods
Opportunity: Two types of vehicles were being used to transport both raw milk and finished dairy products- tankers and refrigerated containers. To make this delivery more energy efficient, the company challenged the logistics operations team to find a solution to help the environment.
Solution: Arla developed the dairy industry’s only combination trailer’half milk tanker and half refrigerated container’which reduced both fuel and carbon emissions. Arla worked with external suppliers Crossland Tankers to produce the milk tank and Gray & Adams for the refrigerated trailer, both loyal suppliers to Arla Foods.
Results: Each vehicle reduces Arla’s fuel consumption by 60,000 litres per year. The fuel saving translates into a carbon saving of 155 tons yearly. Therefore, the total projected fuel saving per year for the 20 trailers is 1,200,000 litres, translating into a yearly overall carbon reduction of 3,100 tons. While making a significant contribution to reaching the sustainability strategy target, this initiative also provides Arla an edge in a competitive marketplace since the company can control the entire supply chain from the cow to the consumer to maximize the benefit.
McDonalds’ energy efficiency count decreased by 6% during 2014 due to lower guest count among other factors. The company established their Global Sustainability Framework and has planned to develop their goal to increase energy efficiency in the restaurant chain before the end of 2014, which did not happen. Due to this they decided to broaden their goal by doing things such as improving lighting, equipment and operations to become more energy efficient. By 2020 McDonalds hopes to achieve a 20% increase in energy efficiency of Company-owned restaurants and through restaurant standards.
Over the past decade, McDonald’s European markets have been involved in many renewable energy initiatives, such as in 2014 when they purchased 76% of their electricity from renewable sources, 10 out 21 have achieved or are striving towards purchasing 100% renewable electricity. McDonalds UK has committed to a 20-year period of purchasing renewable energy, by doing this they hope to save energy costs over the long term.
All over the world McDonald’s markets are introducing energy efficient solutions and are continuously researching to see if there are any advancements relevant for the next generation of energy innovations. Energy efficiency studies were carried out over the past few years, and amongst them, a study carried out by McDonald’s Austria which analysed energy saving potentials in different areas of the restaurant, the findings could aid the Company’s aspirations in relation to energy efficiency and sustainability efforts.
Water and Waste
McDonald’s uses water as an input to the agricultural systems that grow and support the food produced for their restaurants. The use of water in their supply chain is huge and one of the main factors they must consider in their raw material sourcing strategies. It is estimated that a U.S. McDonald’s restaurant consumes approximately 1,300 gallons per day. The main areas of water usage are landscape irrigation, washrooms and cleaning, according to a study carried out by McDonalds.
Water conservation is more important for certain McDonald’s restaurants, such as in the chain in Australia where water scarcity is a huge problem, making it necessary for certain initiatives to be implemented so that the Company can do their part for the environment. Current initiatives in place to improve this issue include:
-Using rainwater for irrigation and toilet flushing
-Introducing water-efficient fixtures with lower flows to reduce flow rates and water consumption
-Training the managers and staff to make them more aware of water usage
The Global Water Tool, developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) was used by McDonalds in 2012. This helped the Company to estimate that almost 25% of restaurants analysed are in areas at risk of water scarcity by 2025. To avoid adding to this issue, McDonalds U.S. have implemented new restaurant construction and remodelling to include things such as low flow urinals. A long term strategy was put in place in 2014 to focus on how water fits into the global restaurant guidelines and best practices and their goals for sustainable sourcing. The Company aim to advance water stewardship, manage efficiency and prepare for potential water scenarios in the future. McDonalds has also asked their suppliers to use the World Resources Institute Aqueduct tool to analyse their own water risk.
In 2012, McDonalds promised to increase its recycling in its restaurants and to use recycled materials in its first Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Framework to generate positive impacts on society and the environment. They aimed to reduce the amount of packaging used, and to only use sustainably sourced materials that are recyclable or compostable. They aimed to achieve this firstly by using simpler designs on packaging, less materials, lighter weight and they would increase use of recycled goods. An example of this initiative was used on the McFlurry Cup in Australia, which they proceeded to get rid of the lid, reducing the plastic use by more than 58 metric tonnes during 2013. According to McDonald’s Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Report 2012 ‘ 2013, of the 34,113 restaurants surveyed in 2013, 90% reported recycling used cooking oil and 77% reported recycling corrugated cardboard (Corporate social responsibility & sustainability report, 2012-2013).
Land and Biodiversity
On April 21st, 2015 McDonald’s announced a global commitment on deforestation across their global supply chain, which built upon their Global Sustainability Framework and their expertise on sustainable sourcing. This commitment focused on beef, fibre-based packaging, coffee, palm oil and poultry, to create long-term solutions to fight deforestation worldwide. This initiative comes about after the company’s backing of the New York Declaration on Forests, who called for companies and organizations to ‘do their part’ against natural forest loss by 2030 (waste-management-world.com, 15.11.15). Deforestation creates almost impossible challenges and potential issues for future generations due to loss of biodiversity and climate change, accounting for 15-20% of global gas emissions- making it a necessity to address this issue. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been helping McDonald’s in moving to combat this issue. McDonalds has put forward initiatives such as:
- No deforestation of primary forests or areas of High Conservation Value
- No development of High Carbon Stock forest areas
- No development on peatlands
- To respect human rights
- Verify origin of raw material production
- Support smallholders, farmers, plantation owners and suppliers to comply with this commitment
Conclusion
McDonald’s has recognised their responsibility to protect and preserve the environment for generations to come and have most certainly done their best to date due to the initiatives that they have in place across all areas of the Company. They have a sustainable sourcing policy for food and packaging in place and are aiming to use our planet’s resources to the best of their ability. As discussed in a previous paragraph, they manage waste locally organising daily litter patrols and sponsor larger clean-up events. Through the Planet Champion Programme, McDonalds have trained their employees so that they are aware of sustainable practices. In terms of waste and recycling, they recycle food waste, clean packaging and cardboard as well as used cooking oil from their kitchens aiming towards sending zero waste to the landfill. They have also improved animal welfare standards and reduced the restaurant chain’s environmental impact. In terms of energy and water, they are still working to improve their energy efficiency by using renewable energy.