The Courier-Journal: Yum! Brands will distribute its first corporate responsibility report tomorrow at an investor conference in New York. Similar reports will be produced every other year in the future.
Some of the highlights include:
- The average KFC restaurant produces 500 pounds of spent cooking oil each month, and some operators are converting it to biodiesel. A franchisee in Japan is powering his restaurant with the biodiesel, and in the United Kingdom, the chain recently entered into a contract with a company that will refine the oil and use it as biodiesel for a fleet of delivery vehicles.
- U.S. Taco Bell restaurants cut paper usage by a combined 3.2 million pounds this year and reduced plastic usage by 4.6 million pounds partly through a redesign of two sizes of plastic cups and seven paper wraps. The chain also eliminated tray liners and reduced overall trash at its restaurants.
- Yum!'s first "green" restaurant, a cobranded KFC-Taco Bell in Northampton, Mass., uses solar energy, recycled building materials and a system that harvests rainwater for irrigation.
- Yum! also works to provide hunger relief around the world, address animal-rights issues with its suppliers and promote diversity among its employees.
