Tuesday 4 February 2020

Sodexo cracks down on unrecyclable plastic waste

Sodexo has announced it is removing unrecyclable polystyrene products and single-use plastic bags from its global supply chain.

The food services and facilities management company says from 1st February 2020, all food-service items such as takeaway boxes, plastic cutlery and cups made from unrecyclable polystyrene will no longer be available to purchase.

The firm previously banned plastic stirrers and straws in 2018 - it notes this change has already resulted in a reduction of 1.8 million of each of the products being used and thrown away.

As part of the move to reduce the amount of waste it generates, the firm's retail operations will stop providing single-use plastic bags and will instead offer customers paper or reusable bags to purchase as an alternative.

Ana Svab, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: "We have already made positive steps towards reducing the amount of unrecyclable plastic products used in our business and we are thrilled with the efforts made by our teams to phase out their use of these products and the response received from our clients and customers.

"As a responsible business, we acknowledge that action is critical to ensure that we do as much as we can to improve the quality of life of future generations and reduce the impact our business operations have on the environment."