Carbon Emissions: A Guide for Hospitality Businesses

Environmental impact is a fundamental consideration for every industry, with the carbon footprint becoming a critical KPI for understanding current performance and tracking improvement. For pub, café and restaurant operators, understanding and mitigating carbon emissions isn’t just about checking boxes — it matters to customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

Why should hospitality operators care about carbon emissions?

Hospitality businesses, like any other, have a carbon footprint. From food production and transportation to energy consumption and waste management, various activities within pubs, cafes and restaurants generate greenhouse gas emissions. Recognising and addressing these emissions is not only the right ethical choice but also makes good business sense.

Customers are increasingly demanding sustainable practices from the businesses they support. By actively managing carbon emissions, cafes and restaurants can attract eco-conscious guests, differentiate themselves in a competitive market and save money through energy efficiency measures.

Understanding carbon emissions reporting

Carbon emissions reporting involves quantifying the greenhouse gases emitted by a business and disclosing this information in a transparent way. While the process may seem daunting, especially for smaller operators, it’s a critical step towards environmental accountability.

Reporting typically involves calculating emissions from three main sources. Known as the three ‘scopes’, these are set out in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the world’s most widely used framework for understanding and reporting on climate-warming emissions.

Scope 1 emissions are those generated from sources that are directly owned or controlled by the business, such as gas boilers, stoves and ovens, refrigeration systems (which can leak planet-warming coolant) and petrol- or diesel-powered delivery vehicles.

Scope 2 emissions come from purchased electricity, heating or cooling used by the business. While the firm may not directly control the generation of this energy, it’s still responsible for the emissions associated with its consumption. In the hospitality context, this is typically the electricity used to power cooking, heating and cooling equipment, electric vehicles, lighting and so on

Scope 3 emissions are not directly created by the business but are incurred further up and down the value chain because of the business’s operations. This category is huge for hospitality, as it includes emissions from activities such as food production, transportation, waste disposal and employee commuting. While these emissions may be more challenging to quantify, they often represent a significant portion of a food business’s carbon footprint. This is because food generates huge volumes of climate-warming carbon dioxide during production, particularly from the fertiliser used to grow it, the diesel to transport it and the electricity used to process and store it. Food waste can also be a potent source of methane, which has a significantly higher climate impact than carbon dioxide. In total, food production accounts for fully 26 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Steps for Reporting Carbon Emissions

1. Gather Data: Start by collecting data on energy consumption, fuel usage, food purchases, waste generation, and any other activities that contribute to carbon emissions within your restaurant.
2. Calculate Emissions: Many online tools exist to calculate emissions from each source (a list can be found at the end of the article). This can still be a daunting task; many businesses start with their scope 1 and 2 emissions as these are typically easily identified from mileage claims and utility bills. The Carbon Trust has a simple online calculator that helps you do just that. As noted above, scope 3 emissions might have an even bigger impact for food businesses, but are more complex to calculate. There is also a growing number of sustainability consultants who can support you to calculate your carbon footprint.
3. Set Baselines and Targets: Knowing your number is the easy bit: next you need to reduce it. Establish baseline emission levels against which to measure progress. Set realistic reduction targets to guide your sustainability efforts, ideally focused on the areas where you have greatest scope for improvement.
4. Implement Reduction Strategies: Identify areas where emissions can be reduced and implement appropriate strategies. This could involve investing in energy-efficient appliances, sourcing locally produced ingredients, optimising delivery routes, or reducing food waste through composting or donation programs. You may find that the most exciting or technologically advanced opportunities (solar panels, AI) may be much less impactful or media-worthy than more pedestrian improvements like reducing portion sizes to minimise food waste.
5. Monitor and Review: Regularly monitor energy usage and emissions data to track progress towards your reduction targets. Review your strategies periodically and make adjustments as needed. Keep in mind that different calculation methods will typically yield different results. Sticking to a consistent methodology is more useful, in the grand scheme of things, than searching for the most accurate calculator.
6. Report Transparently: Finally, communicate your emissions data and reduction efforts transparently to stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors and (where applicable) regulatory authorities. Consider displaying your carbon footprint on menus or websites to showcase your commitment to sustainability.

The Benefits of Carbon Emissions Reporting

In the UK, all publicly listed companies, as well as large private companies, must report their emissions as part of publishing their annual accounts; it’s voluntary for small and medium enterprises. But even for sole traders, reporting and reducing carbon emissions brings several tangible benefits:

• Enhanced reputation: Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability can enhance your brand reputation and attract environmentally conscious customers and employees.
• Cost savings: Implementing energy efficiency measures and waste reduction strategies can lead to significant cost savings.
• Future-proofing: By proactively managing emissions, hospitality operators can future-proof their businesses against evolving environmental regulations and consumer preferences. It also seems likely that carbon reporting will become mandatory for smaller businesses at some point, so even if you aren’t currently required to report, it might happen sooner than you think.

While navigating carbon emissions reporting may pose challenges, the benefits for restaurant operators are undeniable. By embracing sustainability and taking proactive steps to reduce their carbon footprint, bar, café and restaurant operators can contribute to a healthier planet but also thrive in a competitive market driven by increasingly eco-conscious consumers.

Online carbon emissions calculators for food businesses

The following online tools and resources are all aimed specifically at understanding the carbon footprint of food. Thanks to Dr Christian Reynolds at the Centre for Food Policy for sharing his research. Inclusion here does not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of reliability.

• My Emissions
• Floop App
• Food Carbon Emissions App
• Nutritics
• Cool Food Pro
• Jamix
• Eco-Shaper
• TUCO
• Zero Carbon Forum

Sustainable Hospitality is produced by Rob Kidd, an independent consultant working in food and hospitality.

For more, check out www.sustainable-hospitality.uk.