Burger King sustainability score: 24/100
Better than 8% of Food Service / Restaurants
Below expectations starts at 31. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Burger King is a global fast-food chain founded in 1954 and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, United States. Owned by Restaurant Brands International, it operates 19,700+ franchised restaurants across 100+ countries, serving primarily flame-grilled beef burgers, chicken, and breakfast items.
More about Burger King
A major player in the QSR sector.
Founded 1954Head office Miami-Dade County, United StatesStaff ~35,000Revenue $1.97B (FY2012)Website ↗
Burger King's sustainability performance is dominated by supply chain deforestation, greenwashing, and a beef-heavy business model that fundamentally conflicts with emissions reduction. RBI reports Scope 3 emissions but uses intensity targets that allow absolute emissions to rise as the chain expands to 40,000+ restaurants. Water impact is entirely unreported.
Burger King scores 24/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified May 2026.
That places Burger King joint 903rd of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 48th of 53 in Food Service / Restaurants.
What is Burger King doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain and Transparency & Accountability (5/10, 5/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Water Impact (1/10, 1/10).
Where Burger King lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on natureShow it knows its main risks to nature.
- Its effect on waterPublish figures for its water use.
- Its record on controversiesDeal with the findings under question 10, in public.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations4/10No full Scope 1 and 2 figures worked out to the GHG Protocol.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling2/10No evidence its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature1/10No evidence it knows its main risks to nature.
- How it uses materials and handles waste3/10No active waste reduction, reuse or repair shown.
- Its effect on water1/10No figures for its water use.
- Its climate targets4/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports5/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
- Its record on controversies1/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Burger King's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Burger King's score changed?
Burger King's score has been reviewed 2 times and currently stands where it started, at 24.
- 24 → 247 November 2026
Correction, 7 November 2026: removed a related-company note naming a customer, supplier or partner without a source. Score unchanged.
- Scored 244 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Burger King's score based on?
16 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
31% of them were published by Burger King itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
11 of 16 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Burger King compare with other food service / restaurants companies?
Where Burger King sits among food service / restaurants peers.
Among the 53 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Burger King is tied =48th of 53, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Food Service / Restaurants?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Burger King.
Côte reports operational emissions under the statutory SECR rules, but its Scope 3 covers business mileage only and omits food and other purchased goods, the largest source for a restaurant chain.
See the breakdown →Prezzo Italian has published zero emissions data, supply chain assessment, or climate targets across its 96-restaurant UK estate.
See the breakdown →Dunkin' discloses almost no quantitative sustainability data despite operating 13,000+ restaurants globally.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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