McDonald’s UAE and Neutral Fuels Win ‘Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport’ for Biodiesel Initiative Category: Home, Industry News UK & World, Trends

22/2/12 www.zawya.com

Abdullah Al Jallaf, Managing Director, Neutral Fuels and Mazen Sous,Senior Marketing & Communications Director, McDonald’s UAE receiving the award.

Dubai 22 February 2012- Dubai Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has recognized McDonald’s UAE and Neutral Fuels for their commitment to sustainable transport by awarding them with the 2011 Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST), in the ‘Environmental Protection Category’. The award was presented by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai to representatives from McDonald’s UAE and Neutral Fuels for the recent biodiesel initiative, which saw McDonald’s convert its used vegetable cooking oil into biodiesel for its fleet of logistics trucks.The award highlights the vital role that McDonald’s UAE and Neutral Fuels has played in fostering and promoting sustainable transport systems in the Emirate, whilst supporting the RTA’s objectives of developing solutions, systems and practices of sustained transport.

McDonald’s UAE launched its biodiesel initiative in July 2011, as the first ’closed loop’ system which takes 100% of the used vegetable cooking oil from its restaurants to provide 100% biodiesel to all delivery trucks. The initiative saw McDonald’s UAE partnering with Neutral Fuels, the first and only licensed biorefinery in the Middle East, to provide the efficient collection, recycling, and conversion of McDonald’s used cooking vegetable oil into biodiesel which the company then uses in its logistics fleet.

Mr. Rafic Fakih, Managing Director and Partner of McDonald’s UAE commented “We are honoured to have been recognised by the RTA for our biodiesel initiative. At McDonald’s UAE, we are constantly looking at ways to protect the environment and reduce our carbon footprint, and judging by the success of our biodiesel initiative, this is a step in the right direction.”

Karl Feilder, Chairman & CEO of Neutral Fuels comments, “McDonald’s is doing the right thing by contributing towards an important environmental shift in the UAE. This initiative is tightly aligned with the ethical, environmental and economic values which form the core of their corporate sustainability strategy. Our highly efficient process, the first of its kind in the Middle East, has achieved worldwide recognition since its launch in 2011, differentiating Neutral Fuels from every other biorefinery and giving McDonald’s a significant economic advantage for their fuel related transportation costs.”

The biodiesel initiative, the first of its kind in the Middle East, has achieved worldwide recognition since its launch in 2011, giving McDonald’s UAE a platform to showcase the many advantages of biodiesel over fossil fuels.

Biodiesel is a cleaner alternative to other energy sources as it is made from organic sources such as vegetable oils and produces better environmental performance of diesel engines.

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About McDonald’s UAE:
Operating since 1994, McDonald’s UAE today has 90 restaurants geographically located to service customers in many areas. McDonald’s UAE is committed to the quality of the products it serves at each restaurant and also maintains an active social responsibility agenda.

McDonald’s UAE prides itself on being a local member of the community and has been committed to being a responsible corporate citizen since the first restaurant opened in the UAE. McDonald’s vast CSR agenda includes various sports events that promote balanced active lifestyles including the Olympic Day Run – the annual race which attracts thousands of runners every year, the Olympic Champion Kids Program which offered children the chance to experience the Olympic Games live from the event in 2008 and the Player Escort Program which has been launched twice in the UAE and offers children in the Emirates a chance of a life-time experience to fly to the FIFA World Cup venue and escort football players onto the field.

For more information, please contact Toufiq Othman, +971 50 5956 727, toufiq.othman@ws-mena.com

About Neutral Fuels:
Neutral Fuels LLC is part of The Neutral Group,www.tng.ae a highly regarded international cleantech organization founded in 2006 by a team of experienced international businessmen, specializing in the optimization of energy and sustainability parameters for the global supply chain industry.

The Neutral Group has worked with some of the world’s best known brands to improve their operational efficiency and sustainability footprint . We believe and have demonstrated countless times that a dedicated focus on reducing carbon will lead to operating cost reductions, and improvements in the efficiency of asset utilisation. These benefits can have a significant positive effect on bottom line profit.

Please note that Neutral Fuels does not sell biodiesel to the general public.

For more information please contact Karl W Feilder, Chairman on 050 188 6508 orkwf@tng.ae

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