May 13, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alex Batty receives the award on behalf of KFC.
WILMINGTON, Del. (USA) – Solenis LLC, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, is proud to announce that KFC UK & Ireland is among the winners of a 2023 Solenis Sustainability Award. The international company, which operates more than 1,000 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, is being recognized for a joint engagement with Diversey, a Solenis company and a leading provider of hygiene, infection prevention, and cleaning solutions. The program improved cleaning efficiency in KFC restaurants across the UK and Ireland and significantly reduced the consumption of cleaning products and related packaging. The combination of initiatives was estimated to reduce the company’s annual packaging waste by 7,504 kg.
KFC and Diversey have been partners in the UK and Ireland for 10 years. In 2019, they began a joint venture to improve cleaning efficiency in KFC restaurants in the region. The initiative, managed by Diversey team members, examined KFC’s cleaning program and devised an updated protocol using more efficient cleaning products. The result enhanced cleaning efficiency and generated a significant positive sustainability impact.
The joint venture resulted in a leaner product mix that improved safety while reducing product consumption. By decreasing the volume of cleaning products used, the changes reduced overall carbon emissions, chemical and water use, and packaging waste.
The venture instituted the following specific changes:
- A simple but effective improvement of the trigger head design on an anti-stick product, reduced yearly consumption by 14,366 liters of product
- Switching from a 2-L grill cleaner to a 750-mL cleaner, resulted in a yearly reduction of 30,543 liters of product
- Shifting from a 5-liter urinal cleaner to a Diversey water-fed product, resulted in a yearly reduction of a staggering 68,081 liters of product!
In 2023, KFC UK & Ireland introduced additional water-fed products for bathroom cleaning, further decreasing product consumption and improving safety.
In addition, Diversey’s plant-based SURE hand soap solution will be introduced at KFC restaurants in the UK and Ireland in 2024. This will be the first plant-based cleaning product used in the region’s KFC locations. The company is proud of its close working partnership with Diversey as it continues making improvements that will enhance food safety and advance sustainability.
Paul Lewis, National Account Manager at Diversey, noted, “I am very proud to be looking after an iconic global brand in the UK and Ireland, but it must also be said I am only continuing the fantastic work of Alex Batty at KFC, and Jon Reeve at Diversey, colleagues who began the journey in 2019.”
Solenis established the Sustainability Awards in 2020 to recognize projects that deliver reduced water use, reduced energy consumption, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, optimized raw material utilization, or reduced waste. Read more about the awards and winning projects on Solenis.com.
About Solenis
Solenis is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals focused on delivering sustainable solutions for water-intensive industries, including pulp and paper, institutional, industrial, food and beverage, and pool and spa water markets. The company’s product portfolio includes a broad array of water treatment chemistries, process aids, functional additives, cleaners, disinfectants, and state-of-the-art monitoring, control and delivery systems. These technologies are used by customers to improve operational efficiencies, enhance product quality, protect plant assets, minimize environmental impact, and create cleaner and safer environments. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has 70 manufacturing facilities strategically located around the globe and employs a team of over 16,500 professionals in 130 countries across six continents. Solenis is a 2024 Best Managed Company Gold Standard honoree.
For additional information about Solenis, please visit www.solenis.com or follow us on social media.
About KFC
KFC is a global chicken restaurant brand with a rich, decades-long history of success and innovation. It all started with one cook, Colonel Harland Sanders, who created the Original Recipe more than 90 years ago, a list of 11 secret herbs and spices scratched out on the back of the door to his kitchen. Today, while honoring our heritage, we remain committed to modernizing the colonel's vision, by serving feel-good food, at scale, through inclusive, equitable and sustainable business practices. We continue to follow his formula for success, with real cooks breading and freshly preparing our delicious chicken by hand in more than 30,000 restaurants in nearly 150 countries and territories around the world. KFC is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM.)