Yum China, parent company of KFC, has become the first restaurant company in mainland China to receive the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) label for converting its used cooking oil into sustainable biodiesel. The company launched a pilot of its cooking oil project back in 2018 in Chengdu, where all Yum China-owned KFC locations in the city converted their used cooking oil to biodiesel. For the project, Yum worked with biodiesel plants, oil storage sites, and waste collection companies. China is one of the world’s largest producers of waste oil, which is a huge environmental risk (to say nothing of the country’s gutter oil problem), but also a huge opportunity if more companies commit to helping turn it into sustainable fuel. Yum China operates all mainland China locations of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, and owns the Little Sheep, East Dawning, and COFFii & JOY brands. If all these restaurant brands are combined, more than 8,600 restaurants across China could recycle their cooking oil in the near future.

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The Spoon