McDonald’s Corp is introducing measures to reduce their carbon footprint by fitting more efficient kitchen equipment and changing lighting in their restaurants. The changes to improve the greenhouse gases emitted by the business are aiming to reduce emissions by 36 per cent by 2030, compared to levels from 2015 across offices and restaurants.
They are also hoping to reduce their carbon footprint in terms of food production with suppliers and farmers experimenting with new paddock grazing practices, where herds are rotated onto different grazing patches. This allows the land to recover and reduces gas from the cattle. McDonald’s claim that these efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas output will be comparable to removing 32 million cars off the roads for a year.
Francesca DeBiase, chief supply chain and sustainability officer at McDonald’s said: “We believe this will drive growth and drive our business. These are expectations that our customers have.” McDonald’s have been trying to improve their public image since 2015 under their Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook.
Easterbrook has overseen the replacement of some of their frozen beef patties with fresh beef, removed antibiotics from chicken and taken away the high-fructose corn syrup from burger buns.
Further environmental measures have been bought in with the aim for all their restaurants to recycle all of their waste by 2025, and make more of their packaging more environmentally friendly. McDonald’s have also pledged to promote animal welfare at their cattle ranches, preserve forests and protect water supplies.