KFC launched its first eco-friendly restaurant in Malaysia that was officiated by Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique, Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government. Also present were Dato’ Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim, President & Chief Executive of Johor Corporation and QSR Brands (M) Holdings Sdn Bhd (operator of KFC Malaysia) together with Rohan St George, Restaurants CEO, KFC Malaysia.
The 24-hour KFC Nilai Square outlet is the first certified Green restaurant in Malaysia. It is certified with three Green Certifications: Gold – GreenBuildingIndex Sdn Bhd (Malaysia), Platinum – BCA Green Mark (Singapore) and Gold – LEED (USA).
KFC Nilai Square is one of the few buildings in the world to possess all three certifications. These certifications are acquired by building the outlet according to the green building standards and specifications with important points to meet, which are: sustainable site, water conservation, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and green design innovations.
Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique commended KFC Malaysia for being the pioneers in adopting green technology and receiving these certifications. She also praised KFC Malaysia for being mindful of the environment and setting the standard leading other organisations to do the same.
“In conducting our business, we consciously make it a point to minimize our carbon footprint wherever possible and with technology constantly evolving, KFC Malaysia does the same with its facilities regularly upgrading and improving them”, said Dato’ Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim.
“This outlet, our very first eco-friendly restaurant is proof of that. We are very proud to be at the forefront in the restaurant sector to incorporate green technology as part of our restaurant business, thus demonstrating our support and commitment to the government to jointly preserve the natural environment”, he added.
In addition, KFC Delivery Malaysia embarked on the usage of electric scooters which are environmentally friendly – zero CO2, smoke emission, and noise pollution starting in 2012. Not only do these scooters lower our carbon footprint, but also operational costs. KFC Malaysia is the first under the Yum! Brands, Inc. (franchisor of KFC) to embark on such an initiative. To date, there are 83 stores that offer delivery service and 247 electric scooters being used. KFC plans to expand on its delivery service as well as the usage of electric scooters in the near future.
KFC has also adopted using LED lighting on all its new outlet developments. In addition, each year, at least 50 stores are fitted with LED lighting. This enables the usage of energy efficiently and reduction of electricity bill by approximately 6%.
These initiatives represent KFC’s efforts in response to the government’s call to develop buildings and facilities that possess environmentally friendly features along with the focus of the government making ‘Green Growth’ as one of the strategic thrusts in moving towards Vision 2020 as announced in the 11th Malaysia Plan recently.