Leading motorway service area operator, Roadchef, has won a Silver Award in the Hospitality/Waste Management category at the Green Apple Awards.
The Awards, run by The Green Organisation and hosted at the House of Parliament on 15 November, recognise environmental best practice around the world from companies, organisations, communities and governmental bodies across both the private and public sectors.
Having also been awarded the zero-to-landfill certification in 2020, Roadchef has introduced a raft of waste minimisation measures in recent years.
As well as sorting and recycling the contents of all bins so nothing goes to landfill, initiatives include a ground-breaking closed loop PET recycling solution, which sees plastic collected and recycled into Harrogate Spring water bottles, the recycling of waste coffee grounds into biofuel, as well as the use of food waste digestors.
The company has long advocated for sustainability focused initiatives, becoming the first company in the UK to introduce reverse vending machines for coffee cups and plastic bottles.
Recently, Roadchef partnered with Too Good To Go, an app that lets people buy surplus food and to prevent it from going to waste and with sustainability certification provider, Planet Mark – a major step in the company’s journey to reducing its carbon footprint. Roadchef and Planet Mark have been working together to measure the company’s carbon footprint, put in plans to deliver on its sustainability goals and certify its achievements.
Mike Jackson, Director of Supply Chain Management & Head of Charity at Roadchef, commented, “Sustainability is right at the heart of everything we do at Roadchef and is a key mission for us as a business, so we’re delighted to be recognised by The Green Organisation for our waste management initiatives over the past year.
'From installing recycling stations at all 30 of our sites, to “return reward” machines for coffee cups, we want to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible and encourage our customers to do the same.
'Our recent partnership with Planet Mark will propel our initiatives forward and help us to collectively reach this goal. There’s a long way to go, but we’re excited to be part of a more sustainable future.”