The food and facilities management business, who employ over 16,000 people throughout Northern Europe, will start with straws, cups and soup containers, offering reusable products and encouraging consumers to consider biodegradable alternatives.
Frank Gleeson, region president, northern Europe said: “We are absolutely committed to reducing single-use plastic wherever possible. The world is changing at a rapid rate and urgent actions are required to meet the sustainability challenges we are facing.
“We want to promote best practice and by responding and acting quickly to remove plastic straws and containers from all of our restaurants, I believe we can make a difference in the use of unnecessary plastic and make the restaurant and hospitality industry more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”
Already, has removed over 410,000 straws from UK sites and is in the process of removing 418,000 straws from its client locations in Ireland by December 2018.
It has also replaced approximately 5 million plastic lined coffee cups and soup containers with a fully compostable product.
Single-use plastics such as bags, forks and knives have plans to be reduced and Aramark will instead expand with offerings of reusable containers and bags.
Lawerence Shirazian, managing director food services Ireland said: “By working hand-in-hand with our customers, we can make significant progress in limiting the consumption of single-use plastic by reducing waste before it happens. This action provides an opportunity to make meaningful achievements in minimising our environmental impact, while continuing to deliver experiences that enrich and nourish lives.”