Taco Bell is a fast-casual Mexican-inspired restaurant chain owned by Yum!
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Taco Bell's sustainability record is weak across climate, plastics, and water. Parent company Yum! Brands reports limited scope-3 progress (1% reduction vs. 46% target), relies on intensity-based metrics that mask absolute emission growth, and had its net-zero commitment removed by SBTi in 2024. Greenwashing criticism over sauce packet recycling and minimal renewable energy adoption (2% of system) underscore a pattern of low ambition.
Taco Bell scores 32/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified May 2026.
That places Taco Bell joint 557th of 847 companies scored, and joint 29th of 49 in Food Service / Restaurants.
Where Taco Bell sits among food service / restaurants peers.
Among the 49 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Taco Bell is tied =29th of 49, with 3 others.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
Brands states water quantification 'was not possible due to data challenges.' No sub-metering or consumption monitoring.
Yum! reports Scope 3 franchise energy at 152 MT CO2e per restaurant but has not granularly quantified full Scope 3.
Scope 3 supply chain shows only 1% reduction against 46% by 2030 target.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
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Get in touch →Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Transparency & Accountability (5/10, 5/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Carbon Footprint — Supply Chain (2/10, 3/10).
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Taco Bell.
GAIL's is a rapidly expanding bakery chain with substantive supply-chain sustainability work—regenerative flour sourcing, waste minimisation, nature partnerships—but zero operational emissions disclosure and aggressive growth actively increasing its footprint.
See the breakdown →Krispy Kreme has published initial sustainability disclosures but lacks emissions reduction targets, Scope 3 reporting, and water data.
See the breakdown →Caffè Nero has published minimal environmental data beyond mandatory UK SECR filings and set no science-based targets or net-zero commitments.
See the breakdown →The formula and all 12 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
9 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
Taco Bell is a fast-casual Mexican-inspired restaurant chain owned by Yum! Brands, operating ~2,000 company-owned and ~6,800 franchised locations across North America and internationally. Founded in 1962, it is a dominant player in the quick-service restaurant sector, known for value-focused menu items and high-volume operations.
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