Goal Performance & Reporting

A woman smiling in the sun holding fries

 

Progress Takes Many Different Forms

We are committed to measuring and communicating how we are making an impact across our priority environmental and social issues in line with best practice guidance, from establishing policies with global reach to tailoring key performance indicators (KPIs) to account for market-level differences.

Throughout our Purpose & Impact website we disclose our foundational approach across our environmental and social issues. Across many areas, we have set long-term goals to guide our progress, always considering how we can drive the greatest impact. We will continue adapting our reporting approach as reporting frameworks and our key stakeholders’ transparency expectations evolve over time.

While setting and working toward goals is a key part of our strategy, we know delivering long-term value for our stakeholders also requires establishing best practice policies and building responsible practices into our business that can’t be measured through goals alone. Please refer to each of our issue pages to learn more about the many ways in which we are working to fulfill our purpose – to feed and foster community.

Latest Reporting Resources 

Jump to our past Purpose & Impact reports on this page.
 

Reporting Scope and Boundaries

We are committed to communicating our performance regularly and transparently. The Purpose & Impact section of our website covers our overall environmental and social approach, including the full scope of our foundation strategies, policies and approaches to each individual topic across our four Impact Areas. For a full view of our recent progress and actions that took place in 2022, please see our 2022–2023 Purpose & Impact Report (PDF – 7 MB) or see below for our most recent progress against our environmental and social goals.

Unless otherwise stated, information and data across the Purpose & Impact web pages covers McDonald’s Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries worldwide during fiscal year 2022 (January 1 to December 31).

For our Developmental Licensee (DL) and affiliate markets (those not operated by the Company), we rely entirely on the accuracy of the performance data provided by their management. For more information on the Company’s structure and scope, please see the Company’s Annual Report (PDF – 7.35 MB). In addition, certain information in this report has been provided by third parties, including our suppliers. In these cases, we have relied on these third parties for accuracy and completeness.

Statements contained in these web pages about future developments and past occurrences are based on information and assumptions available as of the date of publication. While we are committed to providing timely updates on our website, the Company holds no obligation to update information or statements. 

Our Franchisees and suppliers are independent business owners who make decisions for their own organizations while maintaining core standards for our brand and customer satisfaction. We cannot prescribe solutions for them. Rather, we work in collaboration to raise awareness and provide tools and opportunities to help them manage environmental and social issues. We work with suppliers to mutually set objectives and targets, monitor progress and engage collaboratively on shared innovation opportunities and challenges. Through self-managed excellence, suppliers are encouraged to identify and manage key environmental and social risks and opportunities within their own companies, and to incorporate relevant goals into their business strategies.

Company employees and Company-owned restaurants are in our direct sphere of control. Therefore, many of the measures start with Company restaurants, with a plan to demonstrate success and expand measurement, as more independent Franchisees choose to implement sustainability initiatives.

Key Definitions

  • McDonald’s: Our global brand, unless specified otherwise.

  • We/The Company: McDonald’s Corporation and its majority-owned subsidiaries worldwide.

  • The System: The Company, its Franchisees and suppliers are collectively referred to as the “System;” also known as McDonald’s “three-legged stool.”

  • Franchisees: Collective group of independent individuals and entities owning and operating McDonald’s restaurants under one of the following structures – conventional franchise, developmental license or affiliate; for more information, please see the Company’s Annual Report.

  • McDonald’s restaurants/Restaurants: Includes restaurants owned by the Company and its Franchisees.
     

Progress on Our Goals

Below is a summary highlighting our progress on goals we’ve set publicly across our priority environmental and social issues. A select number of goals specific to our U.S. business are also included due to stakeholder interest in our market-level progress.

The progress statements are in summary form. For more information on each goal statement, including definitions, exclusions and scope, please follow the accompanying links to each issue page.

 

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Animal Health & Welfare and Responsible Antibiotic Use

For more information on each of the following goals, check out our Animal Health & Welfare and Responsible Antibiotic Use pages.

Broiler Welfare Goal (Multiple Markets)

We are committed to sourcing chickens raised with improved welfare outcomes. To achieve this, we have outlined eight specific commitments for our in-scope markets, which are expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2024.1

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Progress

We are currently on track to achieve our 2024 Broiler Welfare Commitments across our in-scope markets. As of the end of 2022, in-scope markets represented more than 58% of our global chicken supply.

These commitments apply to chicken raised for sale at McDonald’s restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.

For more information, see our 2022–2023 Purpose & Impact Report (PDF – 7 MB) or the focus on chicken section of our Animal Health & Welfare page.

Cage-Free and Free-Range Eggs Goal (U.S.) 

The U.S. has a goal of sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by the end of 2025.

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Progress

As of the end of 2022, the U.S. egg supply chain is at more than 88% cage free.

Canada and Arcos Dorados (the largest McDonald’s DL, with operations in Latin America and the Caribbean) have also set goals of sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by the end of 2025. As of the end of 2022, Canada now sources more than 85% cage-free eggs.

In certain markets we’ve achieved a cage-free egg supply chain. Australia,2 France and Germany have each achieved a 100% cage-free egg supply chain.

Responsible Antibiotic Use in Chicken Supply Chain Goal (Multiple Markets)

Eliminate the use of antibiotics defined by the WHO as Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HPCIAs) to human medicine from all chicken served in in-scope markets by the end of 2027.3

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Progress

Across the in-scope markets, HPCIA use has been eliminated in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the U.S., with China expected to comply before the end of 2027.

Responsible Antibiotic Use in Beef Supply Chain Goal (Multiple Markets)

In collaboration with our suppliers, producers and farmer partners, we will establish market-appropriate targets for use of medically important antibiotics – as defined by the WHO – in our beef supply chain, and we will partner in the collection of antibiotic use data and measurement of progress on responsible use associated with global beef and dairy industries.

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Progress                                                                          

We are partnering in the collection of antibiotic use data associated with global beef and dairy industries, leveraging independent third party/parties to facilitate data aggregation.

As of December 2022, we have established market-specific targets for the responsible use of antibiotics in our beef supply chain for our 10 in-scope markets (representing over 80% of our global beef supply chain as of the end of 2022).4 These market-specific responsible-use targets were informed by insights gained from our beef antibiotic monitoring pilot tests and in collaboration with subject matter experts.

Our intention is to help drive positive behavioral change and transparency, as well as enable comprehensive assessment of antibiotic use across our supply chain in the future. Currently, there is limited data on antibiotic use in the industry as a whole. In 2023, we worked with supply chain partners to deploy data collection processes and begin building access to use data that will help enable future measurement of antibiotic use and trends over time in our supply chain. Through collaboration, we have identified a number of opportunities, as well as challenges, in continuing to improve data and measurement capabilities in this space.

We are still actively working on our journey of antibiotic use data collection, while accounting for the individual needs of our suppliers and their animals. In addition to looking at total antibiotic use across our 10 in-scope markets, we are also focused on understanding the drivers of antibiotic use, such as disease pressures, weather impacts or other external factors, that cause changes in antibiotic use. With the health and welfare of animals at the forefront of our responsible antibiotic use approach, it is critical for us to take the time to understand these nuances to ensure we implement our standards in a way that promotes responsible use, while continuing to positively impact animal health and welfare. 

More information on market-specific targets for the responsible use of antibiotics in our beef supply chain can be found on page 7 of our Antibiotic Policy for our Beef Supply Chain (PDF – 463KB). For detail about our approach and strategy, go to our Responsible Antibiotic Use page.

Pork Housing Goal (U.S.)

In the U.S., we’re working with pork suppliers to phase out the use of gestation stalls (small, enclosed pens) for housing pregnant sows by the end of 2024.

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Progress

As of the end of 2022, more than 91% of our pork purchased in the U.S. comes from suppliers who have phased out the use of gestation stalls for housing confirmed pregnant sows.

 

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Climate Action

For more information on our 2050 Net Zero Climate Target, check out our Climate Action page.

Our Net Zero Climate Target (Multiple Markets)

In 2021, we committed to adapting our climate target to help keep global temperature rises below 1.5°C and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

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Progress

In 2023, The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated our global 2050 net-zero emission reduction target, aligning our 2030 global emissions target to help keep global temperature rises below 1.5°C. 

 As of 2023, we have adjusted our 2030 target, aligned with latest guidance and validated by the SBTi to the following1:

  • 50.4% reduction in our absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions related to our restaurants and offices by the end of 2030, from a 2018 baseline.
  • 50.4% reduction in our absolute scope 3 GHG emissions related to facility, logistics and plastic packaging in our supply chain by the end of 2030, from a 2018 baseline.
  • 16% reduction in our absolute scope 3 forests, land and agriculture (FLAG) GHG emissions related to beef and chicken farming activity by the end of 2030, from a 2018 baseline.

As we transition our emissions reduction strategies to work toward meeting our 2050 Net Zero target and recently evolved 2030 global emissions reduction target, we intend to begin reporting target progress in 2024.

 

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Nature, Forests & Water

For more information on each of the following goals, check out our Nature, Forests & Water page.

Eliminate Deforestation Goal (Multiple Markets)

Eliminate deforestation from our global supply chains by the end of 2030, building on the progress from our 2020 milestones in highest priority commodities and regions.

When we set this commitment in 2015, we prioritized action and measurement with public milestones for 2020 for the products we use in the greatest volumes and with the potential to have the greatest impact on forests. We continue our focus on supporting deforestation-free supply chains for our primary commodities, such as beef, soy (for chicken feed), palm oil, coffee and fiber (used in primary guest packaging).

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Progress

In aggregate, over 99.0% of these primary commodities continued to be sourced supporting deforestation-free supply chains in 2022.5

Percentage of Commodities Sourced in 2022 Supporting Deforestation-Free Supply Chains

  • 98.5% of beef sourced for McDonald’s products6

  • 100% of soy sourced for chicken feed for McDonald’s products7

  • 100% of palm oil sourced for McDonald's restaurants and used as an ingredient in McDonald's products8

  • 99.9% of coffee sourced for McDonald’s restaurants9

  • 98.7% of fiber for primary guest packaging at McDonald’s restaurants10
     

Read about this in more detail in our Consumer Goods Forum’s Positive Coalition 2022 Report (PDF – 200 KB).

 

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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

For more information on each of the following goals, check out our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion page.

Equal Pay Goal (Multiple Markets)

McDonald’s commits to close pay gaps identified in annual equal pay analyses for women globally in Company-owned and operated markets and for Underrepresented Groups in the U.S. at staff and Company-owned restaurant levels.

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Progress

Our 2022 pay gap analysis indicates that McDonald’s substantially attained equal pay and, in 2023, we closed the small pay gaps identified in the analysis. The results of our 2022 pay gap analysis showed that women globally in Company-owned and operated markets are paid $0.9991 in base pay for every $1 paid to men for similar work.11 It also showed on an aggregate basis, that there was no base pay gap disfavoring Underrepresented Groups in the U.S.12

Women in Leadership Goal (Multiple Markets)

By the end of 2025, McDonald’s aspires to increase representation of women in leadership roles globally (Senior Director and above) to 45%,13 with an overall goal to reach gender parity globally in leadership roles (Senior Director and above) by the end of 2030.14

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Progress

As of the end of 2022, 43% of leadership roles (Senior Director and above) globally are held by women.15

Historically Underrepresented Groups in Leadership Goal (U.S.)

By the end of 2025, McDonald’s aspires to increase representation of Underrepresented Groups in leadership roles (Senior Director and above) located in the U.S. to 35%. 16, 17

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Progress

As of the end of 2022, 28% of leadership roles (Senior Director and above) located in the U.S. are held by individuals in Underrepresented Groups.18

At the end of 2022, we experienced a decrease in leadership representation for our Underrepresented Groups. As we initiated planning for 2023, we took further action to evolve our DEI and talent strategies to address opportunities to increase our talent pipeline that helps support future leadership advancement, including securing external workforce development partnerships and participating in diverse recruitment fairs.

Supplier Diversity Goal (U.S.)

McDonald’s aspires to increase U.S. systemwide spend with diverse-owned suppliers19 to 25% by the end of 2025.20

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Progress

As of the end of 2022, our U.S. systemwide spend with diverse-owned suppliers was 25.0%, resulting in McDonald’s reaching its 25% diverse-owned supplier spend goal for the second year in a row.21

Among other efforts, we aim to increase national investments in diverse-owned media and production companies and content creators for McDonald’s USA and its U.S. Franchisees to 15% by the end of 2024. As of the end of 2022, McDonald’s USA and its U.S. Franchisees increased such investments to 8.5%.22

For a closer look at the percentage of U.S. systemwide spend and national investments across diversity categories, check out our latest Diversity Snapshot (PDF – 3.5 MB).

 

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Global Happy Meal Goals

For more information on each of the following goals, check out our Nutrition & Marketing Practices page.

Offer Balanced Meals Goal (Multiple Markets)

Ensure 50% or more of the Happy Meal Bundle Offerings listed on menus in each market meet McDonald’s Global Happy Meal Nutrition Criteria of less than or equal to 600 calories, 10% of calories from saturated fat, 650 mg of sodium and 10% of calories from added sugar.

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Progress

  • 56% of Happy Meal Bundle Offerings, on average, met the Nutrition Criteria across the 20 major markets in 2022, up from 36% in 2018.23

  • 17 of 20 markets met this goal.24

  • One market received an exemption from fulfilling this goal and two markets received extensions to meet the goal by end of 2023.

Simplify Ingredients Goal (Multiple Markets)

Remove artificial flavors and added colors from artificial sources from all Happy Meal Offerings, and reduce artificial preservatives in Happy Meal Offerings where feasible without sacrificing the safety, taste, quality or value of our food.

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Progress

  • Removed 100% of artificial flavors, added colors from artificial sources and artificial preservatives where feasible25 from Happy Meal Offerings. 

  • 20 out of 20 markets met the goal above.26

Be Transparent With Happy Meal Nutrition Information Goal (Multiple Markets)

Ensure that nutrition information for Happy Meal Offerings is available and accessible through all owned websites and mobile apps used for ordering where they exist.

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Progress

  • 100% of nutrition information was available on all participating market websites and mobile apps by the end of 2022.

  • 20 out of 20 markets met the goal above.27

  • Two markets were granted an exemption from publishing one or two nutrients due to local legislative requirements. All other nutrient information was published.

Market Responsibly Goal (Multiple Markets)

All Happy Meal Bundles advertised to children28 will meet McDonald’s Global Happy Meal Nutrition Criteria and continue to meet any existing applicable local/regional advertising pledges.

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Progress

  • 100% of all Happy Meal Bundles shown in children’s ads across the 20 major markets met the Nutrition Criteria in 2022, up from 83% in 2019.

  • 20 out of 20 markets met this goal.

Leverage Innovative Marketing Goal (Multiple Markets)

Leverage innovative marketing to help increase purchase of foods and beverages that contain recommended food groups in Happy Meals.

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Progress

  • More than 5.7 billion Happy Meal Offerings sold in 2018–2022 across the 20 major markets contained recommended food groups (fruit, vegetable, low-fat dairy, water, lean protein or whole grain).

  • 20 out of 20 markets leveraged innovative marketing initiatives, such as creative packaging and consumer campaigns, to promote Happy Meal Offerings containing recommended food groups.

  • 11 out of 20 in-scope markets sold an increased share of Happy Meal Offerings containing recommended food groups compared to 2018.

  • While not all markets saw an increase in the purchase of food and beverages containing recommended food groups in Happy Meals, we are proud of the actions we have taken to steer us in a positive direction. Examples of local market successes have equipped us with important learnings that we can use to build on this progress and scale the successful efforts we saw.

 

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Packaging, Toys & Waste

For more information on each of the following goals, check out our Packaging, Toys & Waste page.

Guest Packaging Sourcing Goal (Multiple Markets)

We aim to source 100% of our primary guest packaging29 from renewable, recycled or certified materials by the end of 2025.

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Progress

Percentage of Primary Guest Packaging Sourced From Renewable, Recycled or Certified Sources by Material

 End of 2022

Percentage of primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources

81.0%30
Percentage of fiber based primary guest packaging sourced from recycled or certified sources97.2%


By the end of 2022, we were approximately 81.0% of the way toward our goal of sourcing 100% of our primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials. Approximately 97.2% of our primary fiber-based guest packaging was sourced from recycled or certified sources in 2022. Non-structural components of packaging31 are out of scope.

We are making significant progress eliminating unnecessary packaging and transitioning to more sustainable materials. This is dependent upon reinventing our packaging in a way that continues to meet the needs of our customers and our business and working with suppliers to build supply chains. We are reducing plastic use by redesigning items such as switching to paper-based straws, deploying new McFlurry cups without plastic lids, and introducing salad boxes and cutlery made from renewable fiber. As we strive to meet our global goal, we are working with our suppliers to test new technologies that can scale globally. For example, we advanced innovative molded fiber technologies to replace plastic lids and sundae ice cream cups. We are deploying these renewable molded fiber solutions across Europe and in other markets around the world. 

Specifically, as it relates to developing alternatives for packaging liners, we are making investments in the technology and supply chain capabilities and collaborating with our suppliers to do so – however, the timeframe set for progress is dependent upon our ability to test and deploy at global scale, which continues to be a challenge. We remain committed to finding a solution now and in the future, toward our goals and for the industry, while monitoring local regulatory requirements.

Added Fluorinated Compounds Goal (Multiple Markets)

Ensure all primary guest packaging is free from added fluorinated compounds by the end of 2025.32

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Progress

By the end of 2022, 96% of our guest packaging items did not contain added fluorinated compounds. For the remaining items, we continue to find and apply alternative coating materials that offer the right grease-resistant barriers. In the U.S., we have removed all intentionally added fluorinated compounds from our guest packaging.

McDonald’s packaging materials comply with state, federal and national-level laws and regulations, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EU, and are verified through chemical testing.

Guest Recycling Goal (Multiple Markets)

We aim to implement global and local solutions across our business to advance the reduction, reuse or recycling of guest packaging, and help create demand for recycled materials by the end of 2025.

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Progress

In 2022, more than 85.1%, of restaurants in markets with advanced infrastructure33 offered guests the opportunity to recycle packaging items. In these restaurants, guest packaging is collected in customer-facing recycling bins or for back-of-house or off-site sorting and recycling utilizing existing local waste infrastructure systems.

In many markets globally, we are managing packaging waste through recycling our fiber-based packaging. Over 7,000 restaurants in Europe offer customers the opportunity to recycle guest packaging, and the recycling of used cooking oil, cardboard and food waste from our kitchens is standard operating procedure.

Plastic Reduction in Happy Meal Toys Goal (Multiple Markets)

Drastically reduce plastics in Happy Meal toys around the globe and transition to more sustainable materials by the end of 2025.34

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Progress

By the end of 2022, we reduced virgin fossil fuel-based plastic in Happy Meal toys by 47.8%, an improvement from the 24.4% achieved in 2021. We continue to work on sourcing materials used in Happy Meal toys from renewable, recycled or certified sources.

 

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Community Impact & Philanthropy

For more information on the following goal, check out our Community Impact & Philanthropy page.

Youth Opportunity Goal (Multiple Markets)

By the end of 2025, reduce barriers to employment for 2 million young people.

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Progress

From July 2018 to December 2022, approximately 1.7 million young people participated in training programs and/or had been hired in McDonald’s or participating Franchisee restaurants.35

 

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Footnotes

Broiler welfare: These commitments apply to chickens raised for sale at McDonald’s restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. Russia has been removed from the scope of this goal based on our 2022 exit from this market.

2 Please see McDonald’s Australia’s website for more information: https://mcdonalds.com.au/our-impact/food-quality-sourcing.

Chicken antibiotic use: Markets covered by this goal include Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Australia, China and Europe. For the purposes of this goal, Europe includes Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, the U.K. and Ukraine.

Beef antibiotic use: This goal focuses on Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, the U.K. and the U.S., which represented our top 10 beef sourcing countries and accounted for over 80% of our global beef supply chain as of the end of 2022.

5 Calculated as the aggregated volumes of beef, soy sourced for chicken feed, palm oil, coffee and primary fiber-based guest packaging that are supporting deforestation-free supply chains, as a percentage of the aggregated total volumes sourced of these commodities.

Beef. Scope: Includes all beef suppliers to the McDonald’s System and their raw material suppliers globally and all McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by the Company and its Franchisees that sell beef. McDonald’s requires all beef raw material sourced from high-deforestation priority regions to comply with McDonald’s Deforestation-Free Beef Procurement Policy and meet the requirements as outlined in McDonald’s Commitment on Forests. Countries with regions currently identified as high priority for beef include Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Australia. Exclusions: Beef used as secondary ingredients in McDonald’s products, for example, as flavoring in a sauce.

Soy (for chicken feed). Scope: Includes all soybean volume used in the feed of chicken sourced for McDonald’s products by all chicken suppliers to the McDonald’s System and all McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by the Company and its Franchisees that sell chicken. Europe refers to Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Herzegovina, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and Ukraine. Countries with regions currently identified as high-deforestation priority regions for soy include Argentina (Chaco biome), Brazil (Amazon and Cerrado biomes) and Paraguay (Chaco biome). Given the complexity of soy supply chains, we consider that, unless demonstrated, all of McDonald’s sources of soy for chicken feed fall into high-deforestation priority regions, with the exception of chicken sourced in North America where soy used in chicken feed is locally produced and considered low risk. Exclusions: Soy used as an ingredient in McDonald’s products sold in restaurants, for example, soy oil.

Palm oil. Scope: Includes all palm oil (including crude palm oil, palm kernel oil, derivatives and fractions) sourced for McDonald’s restaurants for use as restaurant cooking oil and all palm oil sourced by McDonald’s suppliers and used directly as an ingredient in a McDonald’s product and listed on the product’s ingredient statement. Includes all suppliers of products containing palm oil in the McDonald’s System and all McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by the Company and its Franchisees that use palm oil. All countries are currently identified as high-deforestation priority regions for palm oil and all volumes are required to be covered by Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification or credits. All RSPO supply chain models applicable to RSPO are applicable to McDonald’s: RSPO Identity Preserved (IP), RSPO Segregated (SG), RSPO Mass Balance (MB) and Book and Claim (BC), although McDonald’s is committed to increasing traceability by specifying physical certification for the palm oil used in the McDonald’s System in the greatest volumes (IP, SG or MB). Exclusions: Palm oil, palm kernel oil or their derivative used as secondary ingredients in McDonald’s products. This is when palm oil is used as an ingredient within an ingredient, for example, an emulsifier.

Coffee. Scope: Includes all ground and whole bean coffee, including decaffeinated coffee, used in espresso-based drinks and coffee brewed at McDonald’s restaurants, and all ground and whole bean coffee in McDonald’s branded retail products. Includes all suppliers of coffee to the McDonald’s System. Market scope includes all McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by the Company and its Franchisees that sell coffee, and retail outlets selling McDonald’s-branded coffee products. Countries with regions currently identified as high-deforestation priority regions for coffee include Honduras, Indonesia and Vietnam. McDonald’s requires all coffee sourced from these regions to be Rainforest Alliance Certified. Exclusions: Coffee extracts and ingredients used in products such as frappés and coffee in baked goods; coffee in cold brew drinks if they are brewed off-site; coffee extract in ready-to-drink retail products; and other locally sourced products containing coffee.

10 Fiber. Scope: Primary fiber-based packaging refers to products that are used to package guest food on premises at McDonald’s restaurants. This type of packaging includes containers, cups, wraps, bags for food, beverages, napkins, folding cartons, clamshells, food service bags, napkins, salad bowls, Happy Meal cartons, drink carriers and cup carriers. Includes all suppliers of primary-based packaging to the McDonald’s System and all McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by the Company and its Franchisees. In 2021, the primary fiber-based packaging scope was expanded to include plastic alternatives such as wood stirrers and cutlery, and paper straws and lids. This broadened scope has resulted in a slight decrease in percent compliance. All volumes of contingency items sourced from suppliers compliant with our standards but not integrated into our data reporting system were counted as non-compliant. Countries with regions currently identified as high-deforestation priority regions for fiber include Argentina, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Russia and Vietnam. McDonald’s requires all wood fiber sourced from these regions to be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified or FSC-controlled wood sources with full chain of custody certification. Exclusions: Primary fiber-based packaging in food packaged off-site McDonald’s restaurants; tray liners, straws and limited locally sourced items.

11 The following countries included in the analysis are the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Portugal. In addition to these countries, descriptive analysis without statistical modeling has been conducted over the employees in the following countries: Singapore, Hong Kong, U.A.E. (Dubai) and Ireland. These countries have been excluded from the statistical modeling due to insufficient headcount.

12 2022 Underrepresented Groups Pay Gap Analysis Results (U.S.). The analysis is conducted on U.S. employees who voluntarily disclosed race/ethnicity information.

13 The December 2020 baseline data shows women make up 37% of leadership (Senior Director and above) roles.

14 McDonald’s defines gender parity using the UN Women Training Centre definition as another term for equal representation of women and men in a given area.

15 2022 data includes aggregate numbers from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, the U.K. and the U.S. Corporate employees who support our Development Licensees (DLs) are also included. Data was obtained through various means, including informal identification and voluntary self-disclosure.

16 In the U.S., the term “Underrepresented Groups” generally means people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian or Pacific Islander, or otherwise as People of Color, people of Hispanic or Latino/a/x descent, people with disabilities, people who identify as LGBTQ+, people from religious minorities or people having a combination of these identities or attributes. For purposes of McDonald’s reporting, including with respect to Human Capital Metrics and Equal Pay, “Underrepresented Groups” is defined as people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian or Pacific Islander, people of Hispanic or Latino/a/x descent, or people having a combination of these identities or attributes.

17 The December 2020 baseline data shows underrepresented groups make up 29% of leadership (Senior Director and above) roles.

18 Data includes U.S. paid employees only. All U.S. paid employees working in other markets are excluded. This data reflects U.S. employees who voluntarily disclosed race/ethnicity information. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures.

19 Diverse-owned suppliers refers to businesses that are 51% owned and controlled by women and/or Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, Veteran, LGBTQ+ and disabled persons or people having a combination of these identities or attributes.

20 Our goal continues to be to attain 25% U.S. systemwide spend with diverse-owned suppliers by the end of 2025. Variance of U.S. systemwide spend with diverse-owned suppliers may occur in 2023 or 2024.

21 This figure includes supplier spending by all restaurants, whether operated by McDonald’s or by Franchisees. Further, this figure is inclusive of U.S. Company-owned restaurant spend, supply chain, restaurant development, marketing, legal, global technology, workplace solutions, communication, finance, global people and other corporate functions. This figure also includes purchases made by Franchisees for advertising, restaurant development, technology, food, distribution, packaging, equipment and uniforms. This scope excludes noncontrollables (taxes, utilities, rent, aircraft fuel, airport fees, facility leases, donations, bank fees and subscriptions). Our diverse-owned diversity spend figures in the U.S. includes both self-certified and formal industry-recognized certification and Tier 1 and Tier 2 spend. Tier 1 suppliers are those from whom McDonald’s buys directly. Tier 2 suppliers are those with whom our suppliers do business. FY 2020 percentage spend through the U.S. System with diverse-owned suppliers was restated following update of diversity classification of two suppliers and evolved data practices around Tier 2 spend reporting and accounting for supply chain managed spend for equipment and operating supplies.

22 Paid media investment represents contracted dollars with suppliers. The classification of media and production houses and content creators as diverse-owned suppliers is determined by both self-certification and third-party certification.

23 Averaged across the 20 major markets.

24 One market was granted an exemption from this goal due to use of a frying oil that meets local dietary customs. Two markets were granted extensions until the end of 2023 due to delays in technology to update their ordering channels (kiosk and mobile app).

25 McDonald’s top priority is to ensure all items meet their strict food safety and quality standards. “Where feasible” means that by removing an artificial preservative, there will not be a sacrifice in the food quality or safety standards, value or taste. In certain cases, it was determined that an artificial preservative was necessary to ensure the safety, quality, taste or value of the food.

26 One market was granted an extension until January 2023 because of supply chain challenges. This market fulfilled this goal in January 2023.

27 Two markets were granted an exemption from publishing one or two nutrients due to local legislative requirements. All other nutrient information was published.

28 If a local food pledge commitment exists, the “directed to children” definition in that food pledge applies. In countries without a local food pledge commitment, for measured media, the following definition applies: media purchased for any program or website where the expected audience generally consists of 35% or more of children under the age of 12 years. In unmeasured media, McDonald’s may consider other factors, as appropriate, to determine whether the advertising is directed to children, such as the overall impression of the advertising, the target demographic based on the media plan and whether age screening applies.

29 Packaging: Scope: Inclusive of all markets for our fiber-based packaging and Happy Meal book and toy packaging. For our plastic-based packaging, all markets are included except for Israel, Latin America, Turkey and Thailand. Renewable sources refer to material that is composed of biomass from a living source and that can be continually replenished. Renewable applies to plastics only, not fiber. Source: ISO 14021:2016 for plastic, ASTM 6866 or ISO 16620-2. Fiber-based packaging made from 100% recycled sources must be third-party verified, unless certified under a Chain of Custody Forest Management standard. McDonald’s requires all wood fiber sourced from Argentina, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Russia and Vietnam to be FSC® certified or FSC Controlled Wood sources with full chain of custody certification. Perfluorinated compounds are known to be historically persistent in the environment. McDonald’s commits to not intentionally adding fluorinated compounds through our processes, but fluorinated compounds present in the local environment make it difficult to remove all traces of fluorine from packaging. Please refer to our Nature, Forests & Water page for additional definitions. Exclusions: Primary fiber-based packaging in food packaged off-site of McDonald’s restaurants, tray liners and limited locally sourced items.

30 In 2022, we saw a decrease in the percentage of our primary guest packaging sourced from renewable, recycled or certified materials as compared to 2021 due to deployment of packaging materials not yet compliant with our goal standards. We know progress in this space is not always linear and we intend to continue making supply chain improvements to meet our packaging sourcing standards and remain committed to our 2025 goal.

31 Non-structural components of packaging vary based on the packaging but may include adhesives, inks, overprints, varnishes, retention agents or binders, processing aids, impact modifiers, nucleating and clarifying agents. We continue to monitor industry standards on these components and opportunities to work toward making any part of our packaging, including non-structural components, more sustainable.

32 Fluorinated Compounds. Scope: Inclusive of all markets except for Israel, Latin America, Turkey and Thailand and Happy Meal book and toy packaging. Renewable sources refer to material that is composed of biomass from a living source and that can be continually replenished. Renewable applies to plastics only, not fiber. Source: ISO 14021:2016 for plastic, ASTM 6866 or ISO 16620-2. Fiber-based packaging made from 100% recycled sources must be third-party verified, unless certified under a Chain of Custody Forest Management standard. McDonald’s requires all wood fiber sourced from Argentina, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Russia and Vietnam to be FSC® certified or FSC Controlled Wood sources with full chain of custody certification. Perfluorinated compounds are known to be historically persistent in the environment. McDonald’s commits to not intentionally adding fluorinated compounds through our processes, but fluorinated compounds present in the local environment make it difficult to remove all traces of fluorine from packaging. Please refer to our Nature, Forests & Water page for additional definitions. Exclusions: Primary fiber-based packaging in food packaged off-site of McDonald’s restaurants, tray liners and limited locally sourced items.

33 Markets with Advanced Infrastructure: Mature waste and recycling infrastructure at a national level that has (1) recycling infrastructure network across the entire market, (2) multiple materials being recycled within this national infrastructure network, (3) existing legislation on recycling and (4) high customer awareness of waste and recycling. At the end of 2022, that included 21 markets where McDonald’s operates.

34 Toys: Scope: Inclusive of all toys. Fiber-based toys or fiber components in the toys: 100% certified fiber required. All other materials: McDonald’s ambition is to reduce the use of virgin fossil fuel-based plastics, offer sustainable toys by the end of 2025 and not manufacture electronics and batteries in Happy Meal toys globally. For bio- and plant-based plastics to be considered sustainable for McDonald’s, a minimum of 60% of plastic weight is required to come from recycled or renewable content or a combination of recycled and renewable content, though in many practical applications we anticipate that percentage will be much higher. The remaining 40% may be conventional fossil fuel-based material. These thresholds were developed in conjunction with input from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), external manufacturing partners and scientists, and based on an assessment of sustainable toy and packaging industry leaders so that our targets reflected current sustainable engineering capabilities to maintain safety and functionality. Our efforts will result in an approximate 90% reduction in virgin fossil fuel-based plastic use against a 2018 baseline. Fiber-based packaging made from 100% recycled sources must be third-party verified, unless certified under a Chain of Custody Forest Management standard. Source: ISO 14021:2016. McDonald’s requires all wood fiber sourced from Argentina, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Russia and Vietnam to be FSC® certified or FSC Controlled Wood sources with full chain of custody certification. The thresholds described above do not include the presence of adhesives, glues, inks, paints and coatings.

35 This figure is based on actual and, in some cases, extrapolated hiring data for the following participating markets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. McDonald’s collects data from McOpCo and participating Franchisees, but extrapolates where it does not have access to the underlying data globally. Additional markets that provide training data include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.

 

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