McDonalds Recognizes Sustainable Innovation

As one of the world's largest chain fast food restaurants, McDonald's may not be the most obvious "green business", but still has the capability to make a significant impact when it does take on sustainable practices. Yesterday, McDonald's announced their "Global Best of Green" and "Best of Sustainable Supply," two initiatives that highlight the green practices taking place at their restaurants.

Posted May 4, 2010
By Thomas Miner, Sustainable Life Media

McDonald’s Corporation announced today their “Global Best of Green” and
“Best of Sustainable Supply”, two programs updated from 2009 which
showcase sustainable innovations happening at the fast food giant and
highlight sustainable best practices found in its supply chain and
restaurants.

The best practices by McDonalds and their supply chain partners can be
downloaded and viewed by PDF or can be accessed on a new interactive
website, http://www.bestpractices.mcdonalds.com/.
By utilizing the search criteria provided by the company, consumers can
drill down into case studies, which are produced internally by
employees involved in the projects, and offer an interesting view into
the focus of McDonald’s sustainability efforts.

Some highlights of the best practices include:

• Harnessing the wind: In the U.K.,
  McDonald's supplier McCain Foods uses wind turbines at a French fry
  factory to provide up to 60 percent of the annual electrical power
  required to operate the plant annually, reducing CO2 emissions by 10,000
  tons in 2009. When the plant is not operating, surplus electricity is
  sold back to the National Grid.

• Potato energy: In Austria, McDonald's supplier Frisch and Frost takes
  the solid by-product from potatoes and converts it into gas, and the
  residue from that process is delivered to farmers who use it as a
  natural fertilizer. The facility produces about 6 GWh energy per year,
  which supplies 2,000 houses with electricity and saves 30 percent of
  on-site electricity.

• Optimizing oil recycling: More than half of the McDonald's restaurants
  in the U.S. participate in an innovative
  oil recycling program, resulting in the recycling of nearly 13,000
  pounds of used cooking oil per restaurant each year.

• Greening the Restaurants: McDonald's Europe's many green initiatives
  are seeing success, including the installation of solar panels,
  windmills, heat recovery systems and recyclable building materials. In
  "Green City," the McDonald's UK Environmental Sustainability Initiative
  in Sheffield, 11 restaurants send their waste to an energy-recovery
  facility and test environmentally-friendly technologies. The "Green
  Zone" in Umea, Sweden is a building project developed to conserve
  natural resources without compromising function or comfort. There,
  customers find an eco-designed roadside area providing car service
  facilities with a food store and a McDonald's restaurant.