McDonald's New Initiative Towards Its Climate Action Target

(RTTNews) - McDonald's is adding renewable energy to the grid, as part of its efforts to address climate change.

The fast-food giant said it signed two long-term, large-scale virtual power purchase agreements or VPPAs to buy renewable energy generated by wind and solar power.

Under the agreements, McDonald's will buy a combined 380MW in renewable energy generated by Aviator Wind West, a wind power project located in Coke County, Texas, and from a solar project located in Texas.

The energy generated by these U.S. projects will be equivalent to over 2,500 restaurants-worth of electricity, the company noted.

"These U.S. wind and solar projects represent a significant step in our work to address climate change, building on years of renewable energy sourcing in many of our European markets. We want to keep this momentum going, and we're excited for what's next," said Francesca DeBiase, Chief Supply Chain and Sustainability Officer of McDonald's.

According to McDonald's, the two U.S. renewable energy projects will represent significant progress toward its Climate Action Target to reduce greenhouse gas or GHG emissions related to its restaurants and offices by 36 percent by the year 2030.

The company noted that the combined 380MW in renewable energy expected to be generated from its contribution to the two projects will help to prevent over 700,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each year. This is equivalent to planting more than 11 million trees or taking more than 140,000 cars off the road for a year.

In March 2018, McDonald's announced initiatives to reduce GHG emissions related to its restaurants and offices, becoming the first restaurant company in the world to set approved science-based targets to reduce such emissions.

The company also said it plans a 31 percent reduction in emissions intensity, per metric ton of food and packaging, across its supply chain by 2030 from 2015 levels.

Through its 'Scale for Good' platform, McDonald's is working toward attaining its 2025 goals to make its entire guest packaging come from renewable, recycled or certified sources, and to recycle guest packaging in all its restaurants.