Greenpeace activists have undertaken their second action today against Kentucky Fried Chicken, the UK’s third biggest fast food retailer, by placing a giant replica of a KFC family bucket outside the flagship store on London’s Oxford Street. The protest at Oxford Street follows an earlier demonstration at the headquarters of KFC in Woking where staff were also greeted with a large bargain bucket and activists dressed as endangered orang-utans.

Today’s actions are part of an international campaign by Greenpeace aimed at forcing KFC, part of the Yum company, to clean up its supply chain and to stop using paper that is contributing to the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests, pushing endangered species like the Sumatran tiger closer to extinction.

Commenting on the protest Robin Oakley from Greenpeace said:

“We began this morning by taking our campaign against KFC and their use of paper and pulp from endangered Indonesian rainforests to the staff of KFC at their HQ in Woking. And now, at one of the busiest times of the day, we have come to their flagship store on Oxford Street to tell their customers that KFC packaging comes from the endangered rainforests of south-east Asia.

“Loyal customers coming to get their lunch will be horrified to learn that one of their favourite foods is responsible for the mass destruction of rainforests across Indonesia. We are asking customers to join us and demand that KFC stop using paper that destroys the rainforests.”

The Sun today revealed Greenpeace evidence that KFC has been using packaging sourced from rainforests, supplied by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

According to KFC UK and their environmental pledges on their website, they say:

When we use packaging that’s not recycled, we make sure it comes from sustainable forests that get the tick of approval from the guys at The Forestry Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

None of the paper supplied by APP is certified by either of these schemes.

Commenting on KFC’s sustainability pledge Robin Oakley from Greenpeace said:

“The irony is that KFC UK claims to have a very clear policy on sourcing paper from sustainable sources yet sadly their promise doesn’t seem to be worth the very unethical paper it’s been written on.”

Greenpeace’s 12 month investigation found that of 13 boxes of KFC bought, 10 had significant levels of mixed tropical hard wood. Samples from a box bought from Christchurch KFC contained 53% mixed tropical hardwood whilst a sample from a box bought from the branch in Tooting contained 57% mixed tropical hardwood. At the Crouch End branch the testing found 36% in a KFC box.

The action by activists comes 24 hours after Greenpeace released its latest report, How KFC is Junking the Jungle, exposing how KFC has sourced their paper packaging from APP, a company with a long history in illegal logging and who were recently exposed by Greenpeace for felling internationally protected ramin trees.

Commenting on the evidence Robin Oakley from Greenpeace said:

“We have obtained a clear chain of custody that shows KFC buying their products from a company in Cambridgeshire, who buy their paper and pulp from APP.”