MCDONALD’S HAS published its biennial global sustainability summary, “Best of Green”, which recognises environmental innovations from around the world.
The report is a collection of best practices that illustrates progress in five categories — energy, recycling and waste, sustainable sourcing, engagement and “greening” the restaurants/workplace.
Highlights from the 2014 Best of Green report include listing the UK’s ‘Greening our restaurants’ as one of the fast food giant’s five most innovative global initiatives. The programme involved recycling restaurant employee uniforms which are then collected annually by textile recyclers to be ‘recycled or ‘down-cycled’, shredded and used as mattress stuffing.
“The success of McDonald’s is built on the talent and ingenuity of the people in our system,” said Ken Koziol, McDonald’s Chief Restaurant Officer. “Many of our best ideas come from company and franchisee employees at all levels, from all areas of the world. They see, first-hand, ways to improve practices that ultimately benefit the environment and the communities we serve.”
Other initiatives involved McDonald’s Pacific Sierra Region which has created a waste diversion execution manual enabling restaurants to deploy mixed recycling and organics recycling by providing checklists, shift huddles and resource materials. Whilst in the USA and Canada their franchisees are investing more than $6 million in a farmer technical assistance program.
Bob Langert, Vice President of Sustainability at McDonald’s, said, “We are on a mission to leverage resources and talent across our global system to challenge the status quo and make meaningful, positive changes to the environment.”
