Universal Registration Document Fiscal 2025

Packaging and other waste

STRATEGY, TARGETS AND POLICIES [E5-1, E5-2, E5-3]

The issue of non-food waste has only recently emerged as a material topic at Group level. On client sites, Sodexo rarely assumes direct responsibility for waste management, which limits both our visibility over the volumes generated and our control over end-of-life treatment. As a result, our role lies primarily in exercising influence rather than direct operational action. Accordingly, no Group-wide policy on non-food waste has yet been formalized. Nevertheless, initiatives focused on resource preservation and waste prevention have already been deployed at country level and through selected global programs.:

• Training teams in the optimal use of products and equipment;
• Extending equipment lifespan through preventive maintenance and repair;
• The implementation of circular loops:
  • Developing reuse for take-away in connection with local ecosystems ;
  • Piloting circular logistics to reduce waste related to tertiary packaging. For instance, Sodexo France has been piloting with key distributors to switch to reusable crates for site delivery. The ambition is now to enlarge the loop and use the same crate from farm to site;
  • Building-up internal tools like Circular Place in France, facilitating the reuse of equipment between sites;
• Implementing initiatives to allow better waste sorting, especially during our annual WasteLESS week campaign
• Partnering with repair and recycling actors: in Chile, Sodexo installed equipment to bale and compact PET waste at the mining site. 170 tons of PET are estimated to be sent to recycling each year.

While our status as a service provider, our wide range of products, and variations in waste infrastructure prevent us from setting global targets, Sodexo still wanted to understand which key products should be prioritized from a waste impact perspective. In order to do so, we conducted an analysis of the environmental and health impacts of our non-food waste. Based on a life analysis approach, we were able to quantify the environmental impacts (both upstream and downstream) of our global purchases. The list of our material inflows corresponds to the upstream hotspots. The impact categories considered for analysis are: GHG Emissions, land use, terrestrial acidification, water use, freshwater toxicity and eutrophication, fine particulate matter formation, human health, and resource availability.

Packaging, food service disposables (both fiber-based and plastic) and hygiene paper came up as the most impacting non-food categories.

• Packaging: providing food security, helping to reduce product damage and meeting consumers’ appetency for take away, single-use packaging has become pervasive and represent the highest volumes of our purchases. However, their production relies on a system that is still primarily linear, with important environmental and climate impacts, involving resource consumption, GHG emissions and waste generation. Plastic items are of particular concern, from the unsustainable way they are produced to their end of life. As a major food service provider, Sodexo is fully aware of those impacts, determined to reduce them. As a service provider, our main lever of action lies in our purchasing choices. We thus favor reusable, recyclable, or compostable alternatives when possible and appropriate. These measures embed resource efficiency, eco-design, and waste minimization at their core, reinforcing Sodexo’s contribution to a circular economy.
• Food service disposables: disposable food service items have become essential in meeting the growing demand for takeout and quick-service dining. However, like packaging, their production follows a linear model (make - use - dispose), posing significant environmental challenges, especially regarding plastics.
• Sodexo’s levers in this category are more direct than those for packaging, as we have greater control and influence over the products’ materials and sustainability criteria. As a result, we have developed a robust strategy for sustainable food service disposables, led by the global buyer and supported by the expertise of the global Sustainability and Supply Management teams, as well as external partners. This approach is built around three actions:
  • set the basics: reducing waste by preventing the use of disposables & rationalizing the product range to enable actionable measures;
  • shift to reusable;
  • achieve a sustainable disposable product range: shifting to natural fibers and reducing plastics and switch to PET when further reduction or substitution is not possible.
• Hygiene paper: hygiene papers are extensively used in the food service industry to uphold cleanliness standards and meet customer expectations. However, their production and disposal have notable environmental impacts, including high water and energy use, deforestation from virgin fiber sourcing and greenhouse gas emissions. To address these concerns, Sodexo’s Commitment to Protect Forests and Peatlands emphasizes sourcing from recycled materials or certified virgin sources. This policy helps reduce dependence on virgin forest resources and supports the preservation of ecosystems. For more information, see section 2.2.2.4 on Sodexo’s approach to deforestation and conversion-free supply chains.

These categories will be the key focus of our non-food waste approach in the coming years and roadmaps have already been settled.