Sodexo makes sustainability commitment

Sodexo, Gaithersburg, Maryland, a provider of quality of life services, has committed to reducing its carbon emissions and waste at cafes, sport and leisure venues and other food service sites where it operates, as well as its facilities management sites by 2025. The integrated facilities management and food service operations organization manages more the 32,000 client sites worldwide.

By 2025, Sodexo estimates it will have reduced carbon emissions at food service and facilities management sites by 34 percent through simple changes, such as using energy efficient HVAC systems at worksites or repurposing used cooking oil as biodiesel.

"Because Sodexo serves 9,000 sites in North America alone, the impact of its sustainability commitments is more than considerable," says Ted Monk, vice president sustainability and corporate responsibility. "Using just one example, more than 7,300 Sodexo locations in North America recover used cooking oil to turn it into biodiesel fuel. That alone saves 1.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, which is the equivalent of not driving a car 1.1 million miles."

Throughout North America, Sodexo sites have embraced the culture of sustainability, with more than 7,200 sites recycling aluminum and paper and 8,640 recycle cardboard. The company's efforts to encourage sustainability have added benefits to health.