From fries to miles - how Neste uses oil from McDonald’s french fries to produce renewable diesel

Neste, McDonald’s Netherlands and HAVI have joined forces to create a circular economic partnership. The collaboration will see McDonald’s restaurants in the Netherlands recycling the used cooking oil from French fries into Neste MY Renewable Diesel.

The fuel will be used in HAVI trucks that deliver goods to McDonald’s. The renewable diesel enables customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%over the fuel’s life cycle compared to fossil diesel.

In the circular economy partnership, McDonald’s’ supply chain partner HAVI plays a central role as the collector of the used cooking oil from all 252 Dutch McDonald’s restaurants. Neste then converts this used cooking oil at its Rotterdam refinery into the renewable diesel that fuels HAVI’s trucks.

Jeroen Dekkers, head of supply chain at McDonald’s Netherlands, said: “McDonald’s is committed to sustainability through its Scale for Good programme. We are big enough to make a difference. Circularity and reducing waste are one of the pillars of our ongoing sustainability programme.

“The collaboration with Neste and HAVI is an excellent example of how we can make circularity a practical reality. We are connecting the recycling of a valuable waste fraction, which we have been doing for years, to our ambitions to reduce our climate impact.

Together with HAVI we developed a roadmap to see what steps we could take to reduce our carbon emissions from the logistics side and to make our logistics more future-proof. In addition to switching to renewable diesel, this entails a look into hybrid and electric vehicles and using logistic city hubs to reduce inner city movements.”

Carl Nyberg, executive vice president for Neste’s renewable road transportation business unit, added: "Neste’s ambition is to become a global leader in renewable and circular solutions. We are excited to partner with McDonald’s in the Netherlands and HAVI to demonstrate how circular economy can be promoted in practice.

“We want to partner with forward-thinking businesses and cities and turn their used cooking oil, grease or other waste into renewable fuel and products.”