Apetito accelerates meal tray recycling with new sorting facility

Healthcare meals provider Apetito has investing in a dedicated sorting facility for meal trays as part of its Project Boomerang closed-loop recycling scheme.

The new centre should increase operational capacity and support the scheme’s expansion across Apetito’s customer base, having already recycled more than 40 million trays since the initiative began in 2021.

The system was first rolled out across its consumer business, Wiltshire Farm Foods, and now operates through Apetito’s healthcare and care homes customers, with an increasing number of sites taking part.

The scheme involves the meal provider collecting its used and washed PET meal trays from customers and sending them to a specialist recycling facility in the UK. The trays are recycled into new trays, which are then distributed back to the company for use, enabling a closed loop system.

The sorting facility will provide additional space and resource for the system to operate efficiently and to drive up return volumes across the country.

Apetito’s director of corporate affairs, policy and sustainability Lee Sheppard said: “We have seen continued growth and success in Project Boomerang since its inception and are extremely proud of the progress made to date. Opening this site gives us the opportunity to really drive forward this scheme and increase the volume of trays that we’re recycling from our customers, while continuing to reduce our carbon footprint.

“Investing in this facility marks a pivotal step in this expansion and demonstrates our strong commitment to leading the way in sustainable business practice and innovation – moving towards a more circular economy on our journey to reaching net zero.”

Apetito has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and a 42% emissions reduction by 2030.