QSR July 2022

ESG

ADDING UP TO NET ZERO The most widely discussed environmental initiative across all industries centers around goals to reduce GHG emissions, typically referenced as a target of net zero, with benchmarks of 2030 and 2050 often cited. In October, McDonald’s Corp. announced a goal to cut its GHG emissions to net zero by 2050. Wendy’s has been actively working through its goals and timelines for reducing its GHG emissions, relying heavily on the Science-Based Targets initiative ( SBT i ) [sciencebasedtargets.org]. “We have completed the first couple of steps and a key part is, within the last year, for the first time we recorded our Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions to the CDP Climate tool,” Esposito says. “We also conducted a life cycle assessment of our Scope 3 initiatives and reported those results. Going for ward, we will continue to report on Scope 1 and 2 and continue to add Scope 3. By the end of next year, we’ll have assigned base targets for reduction of emissions across those three scopes and timeframes will be set as well.” CDP is a not-for-profit charity that operates a global disclo sure system for monitoring and tracking global progress toward

“What companies are finding, and certainly it has been Wendy’s experience, is that this overall corporate responsibility area has become a heightened focus for all the right reasons,” says Liliana Esposito, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer at Wendy’s. “Consumers and investors care about it, and taking corporate responsibility is the right thing to do in terms of making sure we are improving the impact; but what has also become apparent is that the companies that focus on these areas and put meaningful effort and resources behind them perform better. At Wendy’s we have seen this is absolutely a benefit—it is not always easy and there is work to do to make sure you are improving your impact, but it is the right thing to do.” Wendy’s is aggressively tackling multiple areas to achieve improvements and address its global footprint, but meeting environmental targets is not feasible in a single leap, it’s done through baby steps and long-term commitments. For instance, the company set a goal in 2020 to sustainably source 100 percent of its customer-facing packaging by 2026. At the end of 2021, 48 percent of Wendy’s customer-facing pack aging was sustainably sourced.

LILIANA ESPOSITO, CHIEF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER AT WENDY’S, SAYS PRIORITIZING CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY “IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.”

PROVIDED BY THE WENDY’S COMPANY, LILIANA-ESPOSITO / TOM DUBANOWICH, WENDY’SRESTAURANT LED LIGHTING / BRAD FEINKNOPF

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JULY 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com