McDonald’s opens first wind-powered net-zero emission restaurant in the UK

McDonald's has opened its first net-zero emission branch in the United Kingdom. The wind-powered restaurant was built in the Market Drayton town in England.

This is McDonald's first net-zero carbon emission restaurant in the U.K. Worldwide, this is the fast-food chain's second eco-friendly location as the first one was opened in the United States earlier this year. The very first net-zero outlet was built at Disney World in Buena Vista, Florida.

The building has been designed carefully to create the world's first "net-zero" fast-food restaurant. To attain the goal of net-zero carbon emissions, McDonald's will get rid of carbon dioxide emissions as much as possible.

"It is McDonald's goal to reduce its carbon emissions across its portfolio," WSP USA buildings president, Jean Gibbons, said in a press release at that time. "McDonald's has intended to use this project as a pilot for future energy reductions steps in new and existing restaurants and future net-zero developments."

In any case, McDonald's environmentally-friendly outlet in the U.K. features solar panels and wind turbines for power. Household items and recycled IT equipment were used to make the building's cladding plus the signs were created using used coffee beans. For insulation, sheep wool were provided.

The restaurant stated that this design and materials will be used as a "blueprint" for other McDonald's locations that will be constructed in the future. With these efforts to go green, the company hopes it will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it releases into the atmosphere.

According to BBC News, this McDonald's that is powered by wind turbines is the first restaurant due to be verified as net-zero emissions in the U.K. It will be validated for construction using the UK Green Building Council's (UKGBC's) net-zero carbon buildings framework.

"We've already started to roll out some of these innovations to other restaurants, but what is exciting about Market Drayton is the fact it will act as a blueprint for our future new builds," Beth Hart, McDonald's spokesperson, said in a statement. "We believe that our food needs to be served in restaurants that are sustainable for the future. Market Drayton is a big step towards making that a reality."