McDonald's VP Bob Langley on sustainability

McDonalds (MCD) has been vilified by a number of movies and books, including Fast Food Nation. The company is a favorite punching bag for environmental and nutritional activists. While Big Mac's are hardly health food, the company has diversified its menu to offer healthier choices.

McDonald's has also mounted a steady and sustained effort to improve its environmental practices by reducing energy and water usage and enforcing higher levels of sustainability among its network of suppliers. We spoke with McDonald's VP of Corporate Social Responsibility Bob Langert about efforts underway at "the Golden Arches"to make the company a better global citizen.

Highlight from the interview:

Issues related to sustainability most of the time drive efficiency. Take the two biggest issues in our restaurants. We as a company spend $1.7 billion on energy around the world. Energy efficiency can cut that cost. The other big issue is waste. That includes packaging that turns into waste and other waste in general. We spend $1.3 billion on processing waste. So reducing our packaging and figuring out ways to divert waste will be necessary and help our bottom line. We are also implementing an environmental score card with our suppliers. It's the right thing to do, but its also business related. We see it as an efficiency measure that helps focus them on driving efficiencies and reducing their costs.