QSR August 2022

CLIMATE RESPONSIBILITY / CONTINUED FROM PAGE 97

A focus on reducing overall cutlery use is also key in the brand’s packaging sustainability strategy. Again taking pre-pandemic met rics into consideration, Amoscato reports that, by May 2022, Shake Shack had reduced cutlery by 13 percent from pre-pandemic 2019 usage. “We plan to pilot a completely new packaging redesign later this year to optimize guest experience, and the materials are completely focused with sustainability in mind,” Amoscato says. While additional packaging improvements are on the docket for the immediate future, Shake Shack is expanding its environmental efforts further with a long-term focus on lessening its overall car bon footprint. Last year, the brand tracked and reported its entire carbon emissions across Scope 1 (direct emissions from owned or controlled sources) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, steam, heat, or cooling) for the first time. While the chain built its first location with solar panels over 10 years ago in 2012, the data from this 2021 tracking motivated a deeper investment in reducing carbon output. This resulted in the addition of solar panels to five locations in 2021. Depending on the surface area of the roof at each location, 24–70 panels of varying sizes were installed at each, with the panels generating around 18 megawatt hours of electricity annually per unit. According to fig ures based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator, the brand’s panels generate energy equivalent to CO 2 emissions from over 1,400 gallons of gasoline or 29 barrels of oil, saving the same amount of greenhouse emissions

as 4.3 tons of waste being recycled instead of landfilled. In 2022, at least one new Shake Shack will receive solar panels, and additional units (particularly new stores) will be assessed for their compatibil ity with panels. “In order to implement solar panels effectively, it is best to incorporate the solar panels in the original design,” says Brian Smith, Shake Shack’s senior manager of procurement and sustainability. “We continue to evaluate the suitability of solar pan els as we develop new locations.” As is the case with the brand’s overall plan, Shake Shack’s renewable energy course of action is layered. In 2021, 30 percent of new units realized a 20 percent year-over-year reduction in kitchen exhaust system energy usage after the brand worked with manufacturers to add floor-to-ceiling side panels around kitchen hoods, containing griddle areas and increasing the efficiency of the exhaust hoods. And the brand’s heterogeneous approach to sustain ability leaves nothing off the table. As new areas for improvement are revealed, Shake Shack plans to continue to respond, accord ing to Smith, even researching developing approaches such as the applicability of geothermal thermal energy to the restaurant envi ronment. “The food industry contributes a significant amount of global carbon emissions, so as a company … we will keep pushing ourselves to be on the right side of history to build a more sustain able business, even if it takes some time,” Amoscato says. q

Rachel Pittman is a regular contributor to Food News Media and is based in North Carolina.

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AUGUST 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com