Sodexo's WasteWatch programme reduces food waste by 43% at Oasis academies
Since 1 September 2022 Sodexo’s food waste reduction programme, WasteWatch, has reduced food waste by 43%, preventing 115 metric tonnes of CO2 and the equivalent of 30,249 meals.
Sodexo first partnered with Oasis Community Learning over 12 years ago, and today Sodexo’s Food & Co offer provides breakfast, morning break and lunch to 28,000 Oasis pupils, as well as hospitality services.
Sodexo began the rollout of its WasteWatch programme at Oasis academies in May 2021 and this academic year has made significant progress on reducing food waste in the school meals service.
"This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to thank the schools and our catering teams for their commitment to reducing food waste.
We are committed to working together to ensure Oasis academy students enjoy tasty, nutritious school meals every day, and to help raise awareness of not only the importance of a well-balanced diet but how small changes can make a big difference."
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has always been a key focus for Sodexo and Oasis. In June 2022 Sodexo appointed Elizabeth Axon as social responsibility and engagement manager specifically to help maximise Sodexo’s initiatives across Oasis academies. This not only includes the WasteWatch programme but also carbon labelling at its secondary schools and the new partnership with Rethink Food’s Futures programme to provide Oasis academy students with exciting learning opportunities with tower gardens, soil-free tower gardens enable the children to grow fresh produce from seed to salad in 60 days.
Sodexo and Oasis were highly commended for the Sustainability in Education category at the Footprint Awards in recognition for their approach to embed sustainability across the contract.
"We are working on becoming the most sustainable family of schools in the sector and food is a key part of this strategy.
Partnering with Sodexo has enabled us to create real change within our academy catering and inform our young people on sustainable food-choices.
We look forward to continuing to see the improvements over the coming years as together we educate the next generation about the changes they can make to have a positive impact on the planet."
Sodexo, which provides a diverse range of services – including catering and facilities management to large business and public sector clients - has pledged to roll out the food waste management technology to all its relevant sites by 2025.
While this was one of the commitments featured in its Social Impact Pledge 2021, the organisation has long been committed to food waste reduction as part of its Better Tomorrow 2025 global strategy.
In 2019, Sodexo unveiled an ambition to cut food waste and loss by 50% across all its sites, putting it ahead of the United Nation’s call to halve food waste globally by 2030. The programme also forms part of the organisation’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint by 34% by 2025.
Find out more about WasteWatch
Find out more about Sodexo Schools