April 11, 2008 - A McDonald's pilot project to generate electricity from restaurant waste is cutting carbon emissions from waste disposal by 54%.

Eleven McDonald's restaurants in the U.K. are participating in the project, in which a waste contractor, Veolia Environmental Services, transports the waste to an energy recovery facility and converts it into electricity and heat. The scheme will save each restaurant from sending 100 metric tons of waste to landfill each year and help to provide heat for 130 public buildings nearby, McDonald's says.

"Many recycling contractors refuse to take our waste because we cannot remove food from it completely. As a result, we have to send it to landfill," says Steve Easterbrook, CEO of McDonald's U.K. "This is a great example of how businesses can work together to tackle big environmental challenges."

The 11 restaurants are also piloting a range of energy-efficient technologies, such as solar panels, wind power, energy-efficient lighting. McDonald's is also experimenting with geothermal for heating and cooling at other locations worldwide.

McDonald's says it plans to expand the waste-to-energy program to additional U.K restaurants in the future.

Last week the U.K. hiked its standard landfill tax by 33% per metric ton in an effort to encourage local businesses to look for greener methods of waste disposal.