The company buys paper for its iconic buckets and other packaging from Asia Pulp & Paper, a company criticized by environmental groups for its track record in the area. Greenpeace claims fiber species analysis shows that KFC paper products in the United Kingdom, India and China contain rainforest fiber. The group also claims that the same fiber analysis shows Pizza Hut packaging product from Indonesia also tested positive “for significant levels of rainforest fiber.”
Yum! Brands responded that 60 percent of the paper purchased by the company is from sustainable forests, with suppliers aiming for 100 percent.
The group has promised a global campaign against KFC’s alleged role in rainforest destruction. At the Yum! Brands headquarters in Louisville, the group hung a giant banner with an image of a Sumatran tiger and bearing the slogan: “KFC Stop Trashing My Home” on May 23. Greenpeace also is demanding that KFC stop sourcing paper products from Asia Pulp & Paper and develop a plan to eliminate from its supply chain paper derived from rainforest wood.
Sumatran tigers are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are protected by law in Indonesia, however they are being threatened by poaching and habitat loss from deforestation by pulpwood and palm oil producers, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
